Survios Stops VR Work On Alien: Rogue Incursion To Focus On Flatscreen Version
Suvios "won't be able to work on new VR updates in the near term" for Alien: Rogue Incursion.
Some Quest buyers of Alien: Rogue Incursion are seeking refunds after developer Survios announced it won't be able to work on new updates for VR "in the near term".
The refund requests came after a Survios administrator posted on the company's Discord "we won't be able to work on new VR updates in the near term" as they focus instead on a flatscreen version due out in September for PS5 and PC players. The update raises questions about Survios' ability to deliver further improvements to the VR versions of the existing game as well as a promised Part 2. A Survios representative said over a phone call work on Rogue Incursion Part 2 would continue and that a longer statement would be made soon. We'll update this article as we learn more.
Alien: Rogue Incursion had a promising debut on PC VR and PSVR 2 platforms late last year, but launched with an unexpected end to its narrative cutting harshly to a promise of a Part 2 to come. In February, what was already an unfinished game finally made its promised release on the Quest platform, where we noted dramatic downgrades to the standalone version.
It's looking like Survios' release of Rogue Incursion, where the studio essentially targeted the most number of people in standalone VR with a poorer performing unfinished game a couple months after the holiday rush, has become a devastating example of a studio picking the wrong strategy during Meta's transition from Quest to Horizon. Will flatscreens help? Seven middle fingers on the screenshot embedded below from Discord below don't seem to think so. 
In what is perhaps the most telling sign of the times in VR, a modder just released a tracked hand controller update for 2014's fully realized and incredibly terrifying Alien: Isolation on PC.
Put another way, we have a report of Meta refunding $39.99 to Quest Cash for at least one buyer of a VR-only game released on their platform in February of this year. This title featured much poorer graphics and performance than its counterparts on wired systems, and this game promised a part 2 at some point in the future, while a flatscreen version has since taken precedence. Meanwhile, more than a decade after release, the $39.99 title Alien: Isolation can be bought on Steam and the game is so well-loved that a modder enabled VR use on PC for those curious to take that immersive leap with a single terrifying xenomorph hunting them.
