One of the main reasons it has been difficult to recommend the $500 Quest 3 VR headset over the $200 Quest 2 is a lack of exclusive titles, as most games have to support both models. This means we haven’t really seen the , but the tides are turning. Meta just announced Batman: Arkham Shadow, which is fully exclusive to the company’s newest headset.
It looks like this title is actually set in the pre-existing Arkham universe, but it’s not being developed by franchise steward Rocksteady Studios. It’s being created by Oculus Studios and a developer called Camouflaj, which made the . The track record is pretty spotty when it comes to , but the inclusion of Camouflaj makes me cautiously optimistic.
There’s a trailer, seen above, but it’s devoid of any actual gameplay. For that, we’ll have to wait until , according to . The trailer does indicate the presence of a little-known member of Batman’s . He controls rats to commit crimes. It’s a whole thing.
This isn’t the first time that Batman donned a VR headset. Back in 2016, Rocksteady . The game was praised for being immersive, but dinged for being just an hour long. Hopefully, this one is a bit longer, though I’m actually into short VR experiences that are done really well. There’s only so much time to wander around the house like a doofus with a headset attached to my face.
While this is certainly the highest profile Quest 3 exclusive, it’s not the first to be announced. Starship Home is a mixed-reality adventure that looks like it should have been a launch exclusive for the Vision Pro. The horror-tinged Alien: Rogue Incursion isn’t quite a Quest 3 exclusive, as it’s also releasing on Steam and PSVR2, but it is a “next-gen” VR game that doesn’t have to run on the antiquated Quest 2. All three titles will be released by the end of the year.