Flat2VR Studios, a recently-formed game studio focused on bringing existing flatscreen games to VR, has released its first game, Trombone Champ: Unflattened!. A positive early reception bodes well for both the studio’s ability to deliver and its choice of which games to port in the first place.
Flat2VR Studios is a formalization of a group of dedicated modders who were making unofficial VR mods for flatscreen games. The studio announced earlier this year that it would release official VR conversions of four games.
The first of those projects, Trombone Champ: Unflattened!, has launched to overwhelmingly positive user reception on Quest, PC VR, and PSVR 2:
- Quest: 4.9 out of 5 stars (251 ratings)
- PC VR: 100% positive (43 ratings)
- PSVR 2: 4.9 out of 5 stars (120 ratings)
While the ratings don’t suggest blockbuster sales numbers (not expected for this unique and quite niche game), it’s clear that the studio’s first official VR conversion has delivered something that people are enjoying.
That bodes well for the studio’s foundational premise: that certain existing flatscreen games can be adapted for VR to make them not just playable in a headset, but actually fun and fitting for the medium.
It also bodes well for the studio’s ability to pivot from unofficial projects to commercial work with partners, and its ability to make good choices about which games would fit well in VR. Trombone Champ, in particular, certainly seems like a game that was destined to be in VR in the first place—after all, there’s no more realistic way to mime the trombone than with motion controllers.
While Trombone Champ looks to have been a fitting choice, the next three titles that have been announced from the studio are very different in subject matter and it remains to be seen how well they will port to VR. Those are: WRATH: Aeon of Ruin VR (a Quake-inspired shooter), Roboquest VR (a modern roguelite shooter), and Flatout VR (a demolition derby racing game). Release dates have yet to be announced.