Ubisoft today announced in a blogpost that a special arcade edition of their upcoming VR shooter Space Junkies has rolled out to “100+ arcades” around the world. To celebrate, Ubisoft is collaborating with the Virtual Athletics League to throw a Space Junkies International 2v2 Tournament, which starts this month.

The tournament will see over $4,500 worth of prizes given away to the top teams.

Teams, composed of two players, have until February 18th to join the try-outs and enter the tournament. Registered teams will face players from other arcades during the regular season from February the 19th to March 6th.

The remaining teams will face off in the play-offs starting on March 11th up until the Grand Finals on March 15th.

image courtesy Ubisoft

Ubisoft says more than 30 arcades have already confirmed they’re taking part in the tournament. Check out the full, updated list here.

Space Junkies Arcade is a separate version of the game, Virtual Athletics League admin Dallin Funk says, although it’s unclear what makes it different at this point. Ubisoft Montpellier says the full release is slated to happen “soon” on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive for home users.

SEE ALSO
Preview: 'Space Junkies' Feels Like VR's Spiritual Successor to 'Unreal Tournament'

We went hands-on with Space Junkies at E3 last year, and it’s proven to be a highly polished shooting experience reminiscent of zero-G version of Unreal Tournament. Its quick, comfortable gameplay seems pretty well-suited for arcades. If you want to see more, check out a full match in closed beta.

That said, it’s pretty unorthodox for a company to host a world-wide tournament for a game that hasn’t even been released yet, having only gone through a few closed betas in the past year. While it’s unclear why, one plausible explanation could be the studio is trying to generate hype to mitigate any chance of the title falling in the footsteps of the company’s other VR titles, Eagle Flight (2016), Werewolves Within (2016), and Star Trek: Bridge Crew (2017)—all of which have suffered from slumping online engagement after their initial launches.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • 3872Orcs

    Looking forward to playing it at home! Though I do hope there’s more modes than just 2v2. At least let there be 4v4 and regular deathmatch. Between this and Population One 2019 is going to be fun for VR e-sport.

    • SandmaN

      Free-for-all/PvP is already in the game. Looking forward to 3v3, 4v4, and more game modes though!

  • SandmaN

    This game is so amazing! Think Unreal Tournament in space in VR. Incredibly smooth, polished and all the weapons are super satisfying to use. Level design is incredible. Finally we have a AAA publisher that made a game from the ground up for VR that’s not locked behind a walled garden and is available for all platforms – this is the way VR needs to be going forward, bar none. Signing up for the tournament right now!

  • Skippy76

    What I hate is the fact that you must install their shitty bloatware to launch their games.
    Start trek was fun but overpriced and got old fast.
    The bird simulator was ok but definitely not worth the price,
    Even with the steam discount.

  • I’ve tried it at Gamescom and I found it funny… it’s like the Unreal Tournament of VR!

  • This is so much fun! Thank you for sharing.
    https://virtualrealitysocial.com/