As Oculus has pushed out iterative runtimes to support its consumer hardware, many of the beloved early VR experiments have fallen to the wayside, languishing without support and lost in the annals of defunct software. To remedy this, WEARVR, an independent virtual reality app store, announced a new competition challenging seasoned VR devs to update their original Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2 demos, games and experiences, and bring them back to support the latest VR hardware.
Dubbed the ‘Remastered Competition’, WEARVR is challenging developers to enhance, update and re-engineer their original Oculus DK content “to make it contemporary with new releases and fully functional on the latest headsets, including the Oculus Rift CV1.”
The independent app store, which hosts a number of ‘legacy’ DK1 and DK2 experiences and games, is offering up cash prizes totaling $10,000 to the best Remastered virtual reality content submitted to the WEARVR app store before 1st May, 2018. Check out the rules and conditions here.
“These early demos are what compelled us to launch WEARVR and give the experiences the dedicated audience they deserved,” says WEARVR COO, Andrew Douthwaite. “Having tried and tested nearly every DK1 and DK2 demo out there, it’s sad to see that some of them haven’t made it to the consumer headsets. However, it’s understandable when you consider that these were largely created by new, or one-person teams.”
“What we’re trying to do with Remastered is give new VR users an opportunity to try these short experiences that helped the new VR industry grow so fast, as well as creating a bit of nostalgia for the VR veterans,” Douthwaite continues. “There are many developers who, perhaps, created a demo with no intention of selling it. This gives them an opportunity to monetize their demos, through WEARVR, whilst having the added bonus of prize money for best in class,” Douthwaite concludes.
Developers interested in reviving their early projects can enter here.