In development by studio Joy Way, Stride is a VR parkour action game built atop an impressively smooth and immersive locomotion system. With inspiration from Mirror’s Edge (2008), Stride is an intriguing indie project due to launch this Summer.
Update (July 7th, 2020): Stride developer Joy Way has offered up some additional details on the scope of the game.
While the studio has announced that the game will come to Steam, Oculus PC, and Viveport, it also told us that it has ambitions to bring Stride to both PSVR and Oculus Quest. However, the studio says this isn’t certain yet as the PC launch is the priority and the studio has yet to engage the platform holders about the matter.
Regarding the game’s scope, the studio tells us that it’s targeting “several hours” of story content, plus additional missions. Following the game’s release, the Joy Way plans to add “additional modes that will allow players to spend more time in the game after [completing] it.”
Stride is expected to see a “late Summer” release date for the full game (no Early Access), though the studio has yet to provide a specific date.
Original Article (April 24th, 2020): Locomotion in VR games is still in a state of rapid development and exploration. While ‘standing-only’ games and teleportation are inherently quite comfortable, users still want the freedom of being able to explore large worlds in ways that feel natural. Smooth, stick-based locomotion has become increasingly common, but the best locomotion systems seen in VR so far make much more use of the player’s body than simply tilting a stick with their thumb. Games like Lone Echo (2017), Sprint Vector (2018), and Stormland (2019) are prime examples of immersive VR movement systems which are immersive, freeing, and comfortable.
Stride is ambitiously attempting to bring parkour in the style of Mirror’s Edge into VR. And while we can’t say how comfortable the movement system will be without trying it for ourselves, it’s encouraging to see how much the game implements physical movements by the player rather than simple stick locomotion. Here’s prototype footage captured by the game’s developer:
Speed running alone looks like it could be plenty of fun, but studio Joy Way released a new teaser trailer today which reveals that the game will incorporate combat, and further shows Stride leaning into the sharp, high-contrast visual style of Mirror’s Edge.
The studio is promising that Stride will also have a story for players to follow. The game is due to launch across Steam, Oculus, and Viveport this Summer (per the teaser art) but the specific combination of platforms and headsets (ie: Rift via Oculus or SteamVR? Quest?) isn’t known yet, though we’ve reached out to the developer to learn more.
