It's easy to think of Cinebench as a purely synthetic benchmark given the way it works: you download a dedicated benchmark application, you run it from whatever folder, and it does its thing before spitting out a number that vaguely tells you how your system performs. That feels similar to synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark, which aren't directly
There has been a spate of retro gaming projects lately that try to nail every little detail of beloved classic game consoles and computers for the ultimate hit of nostalgia. The experienced team at Epilogue is taking a different approach with the upcoming release of the SN Operator, though, which should make revisiting Super Nintendo (SNES)
For as long as cameras have existed, they've had a fundamental limitation: they can only focus on one depth plane at a time, and everything in front of or behind that plane gets blurred. That's simply the way lenses work, but researchers at Carnegie Mellon University just demonstrated a camera system that breaks that rule entirely. The new
No one is safe from RAMmageddon, including gaming console manufacturers. According to a recent report, console manufacturers are debating whether next-gen devices should be delayed to post 2027-2028, breaking the common 7-year cadence between console generations. If the rumors circulating about next-generation consoles and their gratuitousIn a move that marks the end of an era for the CD Projekt Group, the company has officially offloaded its digital distribution platform, GOG.com. The buyer is Michał Kiciński, a co-founder and major stakeholder in CD Projekt, who has purchased 100% of the storefront's shares for 90.7 million Polish Zloty (approximately £19 million).
Launched in 2008 as “Good Old Games”, GOG was initially envisioned as a DRM-free sanctuary for classic PC titles and as a direct alternative to Steam. Over the last few years, it has evolved into a major player in the preservation space, though its financial footprint has remained a fraction of its competitors'. In a blog post, the two parties explain that the decision to divest GOG follows a broader strategic shift at CD Projekt, as the Polish company seeks to funnel its resources almost entirely into game development.
Despite the change in ownership, the transition appears to be a “returning to its roots” moment rather than a corporate restructuring. Kiciński, who helped build the platform's original philosophy, has confirmed that GOG will remain a staunchly independent entity. The platform's core tenets, which include DRM-free installers, the optional GOG Galaxy client, and the recently expanded Game Preservation Program, are set to remain the central pillars of the business.
For the average gamer, very little is expected to change at the checkout. An ongoing distribution agreement ensures that titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 will remain available on the platform without DRM. Furthermore, future releases from CD Projekt Red are still slated to land on the storefront, albeit under the same independent publishing terms offered to other developers. This move may actually benefit GOG's relations with third-party publishers, as it removes the perceived “conflict of interest” of being owned by a rival game studio.
KitGuru says: This is likely the best possible outcome for GOG fans. By moving into the private hands of its original co-founder, the platform is shielded from the pressure of CD Projekt's public shareholders, who might have prioritised higher margins over the “DRM-free” mission. As long as Kiciński is willing to tolerate the thin profits for the sake of preservation, GOG remains the most ethical corner of the digital game market.
The post CD Projekt co-founder acquires GOG first appeared on KitGuru.Across consoles and PC, 2026 is shaping up to deliver a wave of high‑profile releases that span genres, budgets, and audiences. Established franchises are returning with new entries, while several studios are preparing to debut original projects that have been in development for years. It’s a year that promises both scale and variety, making it one of the most closely watched release calendars in recent memory.
Naturally, any ‘most anticipated' list for 2026 would have to start with what is likely to be the biggest game of the current console generation – Grand Theft Auto 6. After multiple delays, Rockstar will finally launch its next-generation GTA title in November, promising an all-new GTA Online experience, as well as a massive, open-world campaign starring dual-protagonists on the run from the law. Unfortunately, the game is only announced for Xbox Series X/S and PS5 consoles at this time, so PC players will likely be waiting until 2027 or potentially even 2028 to get their hands on the game. Considering Grand Theft Auto V went on to become the best-selling console game of all time, there are extremely high expectations for this sequel.
The Winters saga began with Resident Evil 7 back in 2017 and continued with Resident Evil Village in 2021. Resident Evil 9 will be the grand finale to this modern trilogy of Resident Evil titles, starring what is likely to be multiple protagonists, a departure from the previous two games, where players filled the shoes of Ethan Winters. Aside from closing out the current saga, we also expect Resident Evil 9 to introduce new plot threads to set up future mainline games, even if future titles focus on different characters and horrors.
007: First Light is the first non-Hitman game from IO Interactive in more than a decade. If you've played Hitman 2016, or the other newer entries, then you'll know that IO Interactive is perhaps the perfect studio to tackle an original James Bond game. The newer Hitman games have elements of investigation and subterfuge built into the gameplay loop and prior to that, IO Interactive had a very good handle on action-oriented gameplay in titles like Hitman Absolution. If we can get a good combination of those two styles with exciting levels across the campaign, then 007: First Light should be a great success when it releases in May.
After numerous delays and a lengthy 8-year development cycle, the Fable reboot should launch within the next 12 months. This will be a major turning point for Playground Games, as the studio has never made an RPG before, and the studio is also working on new Forza Horizon games alongside Fable. If the game turns out to be bad, fans will lose further trust in Microsoft, who have been suffering from bad PR throughout 2025 thanks to game cancellations, studio closures and price hikes. If it turns out to be good, then the Xbox brand may finally have its first GOTY contender.
As someone who spent many formative years sat in front of an Xbox 360, the Gears of War games have been a longtime favourite of mine. Gears E-Day is not a sequel to Gears 5, but rather a prequel to the very first game in the series, putting Marcus Fenix on the front lines of the initial swarm invasion. I'm not expecting this game to sit in GOTY territory, but I'm always happy to mow down some aliens with Fenix and Co.
Control: Resonant was just announced. It is a direct sequel to Control, which was my favourite game of 2019 and I still consider it to be Remedy Entertainment's best work to date. In this sequel, rather than playing as Jesse Faden searching for her brother, the roles are reversed, and we will be playing as Liam Faden, searching for Jesse after she has taken on her new role as Director of the FBC. Remedy is aiming to release this one in 2026 but out of all the games on this list – this is the title I'm most expecting to see delayed.
I'll end off this list with another game that may also be delayed out of 2026. Blood of Dawnwalker is a new game from Rebel Wolves, a studio founded by former Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 developers. This is a new Dark Gothic RPG, featuring blood magic, supernatural factions and more. Considering Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 failed to live up to expectations, this new game would be one to watch for fans of that series, even if it isn't connected.
KitGuru Says: What games are you most looking forward to in 2026?
The post KitGuru Games: Most Anticipated Games for 2026 first appeared on KitGuru.A new report outlining the projected timeline for CD Projekt's future releases has been published with some surprises. The most unexpected claim in the analysis is the upcoming launch of a third, paid expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which the analyst believes will launch in May 2026 to act as a narrative and commercial bridge to the next mainline entry.
This supposed DLC is expected to carry a $30/£25 price tag and could shift as many as 11 million copies in its first year. Mateusz Chrzanowski from Noble Securities (via Strefa Inwestorow) suggests that the revenue from this project would effectively bankroll the massive marketing campaign required for the launch of The Witcher 4, which he now forecasts for a Q4 2027 release.
The financial scale of these upcoming projects is enormous. The analyst estimates that the production budget for Polaris alone will reach approximately 1.4 billion PLN (about £290 million), with a similar amount for global marketing. Moreover, the analyst notes that CD Projekt management intends to release the new trilogy within a six-year window.
Beyond the fantasy realm of the Continent, the timeline for the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed Orion, has also been clarified in the report. Fans of Night City will reportedly need to remain patient, as Chrzanowski predicts the sequel will not arrive until Q4 2030, neatly aligning with the tenth anniversary of the original game's launch. The extended development cycle is attributed to the studio's desire to bake multiplayer functionality into the experience from day one. This added complexity has pushed the projected budget for Orion to 1.5 billion PLN (about £310 million).
Meanwhile, other projects have seen a series of reshuffles, with the remake of the original Witcher and the experimental Project Sirius both being pushed back to 2028, as resources are reportedly being diverted to ensure the flagship Polaris title hits its 2027 deadline.
KitGuru says: The idea of a paid expansion for an eleven-year-old game sounds like a stretch, but the logic of a “narrative bridge” to fund the Polaris marketing is hard to ignore from a business perspective.
The post Rumour claims new Witcher 3 DLC is coming next year first appeared on KitGuru.The end of 2025 feels like a strange time to review this 32GB kit of dual channel ADATA XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 CL30 memory, and that is for two reasons. The first is that demand for AI hardware has gone wild which means that supplies are short and the second is that prices has shot up towards the stars. In other words this XPG Lancer memory is hard to find and also brutally expensive.
Time stamps
00:00 Start
01:00 Speed / Timings
01:57 Under the heat spreader
03:50 Test System / Compares
04:48 Testing Memory speeds / timings
08:17 The claims
08:34 Cinebench Performance
09:08 7-ZIP Performance
09:49 AIDA 64 Memory Bandwidth
10:07 AIDA 64 Memory Copy
10:27 Far Cry 6
11:31 Assassins Creed Mirage
12:17 Cyberpunk 2077
12:50 Total War: Pharaoh
13:43 Pricing – the current shambles
15:11 RGB Lighting
15:33 Leo’s closing thoughts
Specification:
Heat Sink Colour: Black, White
SPD Speed: 4800MT/s
SPD CAS Latencies: 40-39-39
SPD Voltage: 1.1V
Test Speed: 6000/6400/7200/8000MT/s
Test CAS Latencies: 30-40-40/32-39-39/34-46-46/38-48-48
Module size: 16GB, 32GB, 48GB
Packaging: 16GB,16GBx2/32GB,32GBx2/48GB,48GBx2
Operating temperature: 0°C to 85°C
Operating voltage: 1.35-1.4V
Dimensions (LxWxH): 133.35 x 43.56 x 8mm
Weight: 72.4g
Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty
Performance and Overclocking
Test system
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Motherboard: Gigabyte X870E Aorus Pro X3D Ice
RAM:
32GB ADATA XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 CL30
32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 CL28
32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 Royal Neo RGB DDR5-8000 CL38
Graphics: MSI RTX 4090 Ventus 3S 24GB
CPU cooler: Phanteks Glacier One 360D30
SSD: 1TB Crucial T500 Gen 5 M.2 NVMe
Power Supply: Seasonic Vertex GX-1200
OS: Windows 11 25 H2
Cinebench 2024 Multi Core
In Cinebench 2024 Multi Core we see that overclocking the XPG memory from DDR5-6000 to DDR5-7200 yields a small benefit and lifts the performance close to G.Skill DDR5-8000.
AIDA64 Memory Copy
The AIDA64 Memory Copy test shows a clear separation between the different memory settings and rewards both clock speed and latency timings. Once again the overclocked XPG comes close to G.Skill DDR5-8000.
Total War Pharaoh at 1440p
In gaming we ran Total War Pharaoh at 1440p and saw the memory makes quite a difference, particularly in 1% low figures. On default at DDR5-4800 you leave a load of performance on the table which you gain for free when you enable EXPO. Overclocking the memory lifted averages by another 2fps and raised the 1% low by 4fps.
Total War Pharaoh at 1080p
The biggest differential for overclocked memory can be shown when you game at 1080p, in this instance playing Total War Pharaoh. The default figures are awful and the EXPO figures are pretty good. Overclocking the memory adds yet more performance without a huge amount of effort.
This is an unusual review as we struggled to find this kit of ADATA XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 CL30 on sale in Europe, and those kits that are available cost an absolute fortune. At that point we took a step back and decided to morph our review into a feature about mainsteam DDR5 memory with eight SK.Hynix ICs that have RGB lighting on top of the aluminium heat spreaders.
This is where things get interesting as we were able to run our DDR5-6000 at DDR5-6800 or DDR5-7200 with rock solid reliability and it felt like DDR5-7600 was also within reach. As you will see in our video the combination of clock speed and memory timings makes a huge difference to the performance that you achieve. It is clear that enabling EXPO delivers most of the available performance with the minimum of hassle, however you can pick up a few extra points if you choose to put in the work with some overclocking.
If you want to buy the ADATA XPG LANCER RGB DDR5-6000 CL30 you might struggle to find it, and if you do find it expect to pay a small fortune – such is the world right now for DDR5 prices. Let us hope 2026 improves a little. Our score below is based on a MSRP of between £150-£200 which is what it was listed at before stock started to dwindle.
Pros:
Cons:
KitGuru says: We have all had a shock with the steep rise of memory pices in 2025 but you should learn something interesting from this ADATA XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 CL30
Maxon has officially released Cinebench 2026, the latest version of its cross-platform benchmarking suite. Building on the foundation of Cinebench 2024, the new iteration transitions to the latest Redshift rendering engine, offering a more accurate reflection of modern 3D production workloads while adding day-one support for next-generation hardware from Nvidia, AMD, and Apple.
The most significant update in this release is the expansion of hardware compatibility. Cinebench 2026 is fully optimised for Nvidia's Blackwell (RTX 50-series) and AMD's Radeon 9000-series GPUs. It also supports data centre hardware, including Nvidia Hopper and Blackwell enterprise chips. On mobile and Mac, the benchmark now natively supports Apple's M4 and M5 silicon.
Cinebench 2026 also introduces a more granular approach to CPU evaluation. For the first time, Maxon has included a dedicated SMT (Simultaneous Multithreading) performance test. This allows users to benchmark a single physical core with and without its virtual threads active, providing a direct “MP Ratio” for single-core efficiency. This feature will be handy for comparing architectures, such as Intel's E-cores, with traditional high-performance cores.
As with previous major version jumps, Maxon warns that Cinebench 2026 scores are not comparable to Cinebench 2024. The update utilises a newer version of the Redshift engine and updated compilers (Clang 19), which fundamentally change how the scene is rendered. To ensure stability during testing, the benchmark retains its 10-minute minimum runtime by default, though an “Advanced Benchmark” mode remains available for those who wish to perform longer thermal stress tests.
System requirements have also seen a slight bump. To run the GPU benchmark, Windows users will need a card with at least 8 GB of VRAM, while Mac users on Apple Silicon will require at least 16 GB of unified memory for GPU acceleration. The benchmark is available for free from the official Maxon website for Windows and macOS.
KitGuru says: The addition of an SMT test is a nice touch, especially as we see more “hybrid” CPU architectures hitting the market.
The post Maxon launches Cinebench 2026 with Blackwell support and new SMT testing first appeared on KitGuru.
Talk about a *ahem* timely deal! We're about to embark on a new year and if your resolution for 2026 is to fashion yourself into a new YOU with a focus on fitness, than a smartwatch can be a wise and useful investment to help reach your goals. And if you've been thinking about getting the latest-generation Apple Watch, you can save some money
In the world of automotive restoration, few projects dare to blend the obscure with the astronomical, yet a recently unveiled Ferrari 412 restomod has done exactly that, setting the owner back nearly $2 million and looking pretty impressive while at it.
Ferrari 412
The Ferrari 412, a wedge-shaped grand tourer from the 1980s, has long2025 has been a pretty bad year for the video games industry all things considered. While the quality of the games themselves have remained high, issues surrounding industry consolidation, inflation and more have left a lasting negative impact on the overall market. Perhaps the most destructive however has been the rise in AI data-centres leading to deep RAM shortages and heavy price increases. Already impacting the industry massively, insiders have claimed that console manufacturers are now considering delaying their next-gen plans.
As reported by known leakers Insider-Gaming, the current and ongoing rise in RAM prices as a result of the influx in AI data centres has put console manufacturers in a sticky situation.
While the likes of Sony are said to have stocked up on RAM prior to the recent gold rush allowing them to continue producing PS5 consoles, manufacturers’ next-gen plans have reportedly been complicated somewhat, with the publication claiming:
“From what we understand, the situation has led console manufacturers to debate whether the next generation of consoles should be delayed from their intended 2027-2028 release window, with the hope that RAM manufacturers will be able to build out their infrastructure to produce more RAM, thereby allowing prices to drop.”
In many people’s eyes, the massive surge in demand for RAM due to AI is nothing more than a tech bubble – one which will inevitably burst. How long that will take; we will have to wait and see, but it is clear that as of right now next-gen consoles are in a bit of a state of limbo.
KitGuru says: What do you think of the whole AI RAM situation? How long before the bubble bursts? When do you think next-gen consoles should be released? Let us know down below.
The post Insiders claim next-gen consoles could be delayed due to RAM prices first appeared on KitGuru.Monster Hunter Wilds started its life as one of the most anticipated titles of 2025. While the game benefited from a strong launch, various performance and visual issues led to the game seeing a sharp decline in sales. With the recent Title Update 4 finally marking a point of stability for Wilds, it appears as though Capcom are gearing up to release the game onto the Nintendo Switch 2.
As discovered by dataminers (and shared to the MonsterHunterLeaks subreddit), the recent title update 4 for Monster Hunter Wilds appears to include references to the Nintendo Switch 2, indicating that Capcom might be working on a Nintendo version of the game.
As mentioned, Monster Hunter Wilds suffered from plenty of performance issues across the board at launch, including on high-end PC hardware, and so releasing a Switch 2 version alongside all the others would have certainly been inadvisable.
That said, with the publisher continuing to optimise the experience (alongside their increased knowledge of Switch 2 development thanks to other Capcom projects), a Switch 2 version could at some point be a reality.
While the series initially started on the PS2, Monster Hunter has had a strong presence on Nintendo platforms over the years, with the OG Switch receiving its own unique entry in the form of MH Rise (though it did eventually come to all other systems).
Given their continued work on optimising the game, here’s to hoping that we’ll get another major performance patch some time in 2026 – likely around the same time that the Switch 2 version is announced/released.
KitGuru says: What do you think of title update 4? Has it fixed most of the performance issues for you? Do you have high hopes for the Switch 2 version? Let us know down below.
The post Monster Hunter Wilds update hints at upcoming Switch 2 release first appeared on KitGuru.More than a decade on from its predecessor’s release, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time launched earlier this year to near immediate success – selling half a million copies in its first few days. In the months since, the game has continued to grow both in terms of content and player counts, with the team now revealing that Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time has officially sold over 1.5 million copies.
Making the announcement via Twitter, the CEO of LEVEL5 ‘Akihiro Hino’ confirmed that Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time has officially sold over 1.5 million copies since its launch back in May, writing (via translation):
“To all the users who purchased it, thank you so much! We will continue to create engaging, high-quality software, so we look forward to your continued support!”
As mentioned, this announcement arrives just days following the game’s biggest update yet, with patch 2.0 introducing a whole new open-world rogue-like mode alongside an additional region; quality-of-life improvements; weapons; mounts and much more.
Given that a similar rogue-like mode was added to Donkey Kong Bananza via a paid DLC, it is encouraging to see other developers offer substantial content updates for free – all the while being rewarded for it with increased sales. It will be interesting to see what else is planned for the future of Fantasy Life i in 2026 and beyond.
KitGuru says: Are you one of the 1.5 million? Have you checked out the new rogue-like mode? What do you think? Let us know down below.
The post Free rogue-like mode update helps push ‘Fantasy Life i’ past 1.5 million sales first appeared on KitGuru.
Last Updated: December 26, 2025.
At UploadVR, we regularly publish articles from freelance writers and if you're looking to write for us, here's what you need to know.
Our regular duties often involve considering pitches from freelance writers. As a leading voice across XR media, our goal is to deliver informative articles filled with expertise, original reporting, fresh perspectives and other insights across VR/AR/MR. While the biggest stories and games will be covered by our internal staff, we're open to suggestions elsewhere too.
With that said, here are some key details to keep in mind.
Here are some general guidelines we recommend following when pitching UploadVR.
There are two ways to send your pitch. While our Contact Us page goes to the whole team, we'd normally suggest directly emailing our Editor-in-Chief, Ian Hamilton.
You can also use our general inbox, tips@uploadvr.com, which goes to the wider editorial team. However, we generally suggest directly contacting editors instead, since that inbox is where we recommend readers/developers/publishers/PR etc. to send in relevant news stories and updates.
As of December 13, 2025, UploadVR pays the following USD rates for these types of articles with the following suggested word counts.
We occasionally take unpaid guest articles or editorials from XR experts like developers, researchers, and engineers looking to share something of broad interest to our community.
Guest articles like this are not something that would apply to freelance journalists. However, if you're an industry expert looking to share your insights, you can email Ian Hamilton (ian@uploadvr.com) about this.
We also have a separate marketing department with a different pool of writers producing labeled “Sponsored” content adhering to our public guidelines. We do not commission writers who have worked on editorial articles with us for sponsored content. Potential marketing partners can email Beck Gibson (beck@uploadvr.com) with inquiries, this is not something handled by Ian.
For everything else that's not been addressed above, please email Ian or use the Contact Us form.
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Welcome to the last entry of UploadVR's Best of VR Awards for 2025.
The year's almost over and we're once again celebrating this year's best releases across the VR and wider XR industry, highlighting some exceptional releases across software and hardware alike. Just like we always do, each category features one clear winner and varying numbers of honorable mentions. Excluding our specific early access categories, all of our winners are currently in full release.
Like last year, we've split the awards across multiple rounds. Our first round covered platform favorites for Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Apple Vision Pro, joined by our favorite exploratory experience. It's here where we recognized Ghost Town, Roboquest VR, Arken Age, Gears & Goo, and The Clouds Are Two Thousand Meters Up.
Round two is where we focused on achievements across mixed reality, hand tracking, and early access releases. Our winners across these categories were Jigsaw Night, Laser Dance, Forefront, Little Critters, and Figmin XR.
Which leaves us with some of our biggest picks still to come, the moment we've all been waiting for. Here are UploadVR's Best of VR Awards 2025.
A small number of software packages in virtual reality have grown so large and diverse that calling them games doesn't really apply anymore. They are places, vast, with interconnected systems that make spending significant time there a delight for many. VRChat and No Man's Sky come to mind as candidates for this category in future years, and both were considered to inaugurate this award category at UploadVR.
Walkabout Mini Golf is UploadVR's Best Virtual Place 2025.
In 2025, Walkabout grew from a game to a place as mini golf became secondary to the best place where people congregate in virtual reality.
The artists at Mighty Coconut entered the year realizing Elvis as a course to play on and ended it with the best physical illustration of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ever made. In between, Walkabout's creative director and mastermind Lucas Martell took golfers to the seat of the gods at Mount Olympus, face-to-face with dinos at Raptor Cliff's, sneaking into a Mother Goose-inspired theme park at Forgotten Fairyland, and up close with Neko Atsume kitties all over a tiny Tokyo. While Walkabout's courses always had secrets, like hidden balls and skeletons, now they've started adding playable activities like slingshots and chess. Designers continue rooting around the backstage areas as they add the foundations for future activities and new secrets to discover in places players have been hundreds of times.
The design team spent days together in December roughing out courses that will open starting in 2027. From release in 2020 for standalone VR headsets, we see other developers following the precedents set by Walkabout – guest mode for paid add-ons, private rooms by default, and support for a single controller.
Whether you're looking to introduce yourself to virtual reality or get lost in there for days, Walkabout Mini Golf is the right onboarding experience for most people and a great place to be.
We've seen some impressive work from VR developers this year. Mighty Coconut keeps releasing regular DLC courses for Walkabout Mini Golf, Flat2VR Studios continues to deliver impressive VR adaptations like Roboquest VR, while nDreams Elevation and Fireproof Games both showed strong VR-focused gameplay design across Reach and Ghost Town respectively.
This time, our Best VR Developer award goes to VitruviusVR for its work on Arken Age. We previously discussed what we loved about Arken Age when giving it our Best PlayStation VR2 Game of the Year award, praising its exemplary approach to VR-first gameplay design. However, it's a testament to the studio's strength that it did so while leveraging the strengths of each platform so effectively. For that reason, we're giving them this year's award.
This year saw Meta break its three-year streak of new VR headset releases, Apple upgrade its “spatial computer” with a new chip and strap, Samsung launch the first product running Google's Android XR, and Bigscreen refine its ultralight headset with improved and adjustable lenses.
Bigscreen and Apple deserve mentioning here, even though they aren't our winners.
Beyond 2's lenses fix a crucial flaw of the original to make it a viable optical experience for far more people, but the device still requires SteamVR Tracking base stations, an expensive technology that Valve itself is abandoning.
Meanwhile, the M5 Vision Pro's Dual Knit Band is a truly innovative approach to headset ergonomics, combining the benefits of a comfortable soft strap and counterbalance in one design, plus the ability to tighten both bands with a single dial. But other than this, it's a minimum-effort upgrade.
Our winner this year is Meta Neural Band included with Meta Ray-Ban Display. Surface electromyography (sEMG) is not a completely new input technology, but Meta Neural Band brings it to a sleek, lightweight, and flexible wristband with all-day battery life and IPX4 water resistance.
Meta Neural Band makes it practical and comfortable to control a smart glasses HUD without needing to constantly use voice commands, wear a giant ring, or wave your hands around. And for this, it wins our Best Hardware Award for 2025.
Social gameplay remains one of VR's most appealing strengths, and this year continued providing strong contenders. While Breachers would have been in contention if it wasn't in early access, plenty of multiplayer games either launched or finally reached full release.
For racing fans, VRacer Hoverbike entered full release and reached new platforms. Pixel Dungeon was an early highlight, Glassbreakers took us back to the world of Moss, and Titan Isles is a highly compelling co-op adventure. Then we have Deadly Delivery, Table Troopers, Elements Divided, GRIM, and Rogue Piñatas.
Ultimately, our winner for VR Multiplayer Game of the Year 2025 is Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked. Resolution Games brought back 2021's hit in style, and we considered it a “mostly natural crossover and a fitting evolution” on Demeo. If you can't commit to a real-life tabletop campaign, this is an excellent option that flatscreen players can also join in on.
UploadVRHenry StockdaleAnd so, we now move onto one of our biggest categories. Our previous awards looked at games for individual platforms across Quest, PC VR, PlayStation VR2, and Apple Vision Pro. This is what we believe stands out as the absolute best of the best across all four.
2025's been another year when the releases seemingly never end, and that's been especially true these last few months. Hotel Infinity, Roboquest VR, Marvel’s Deadpool VR, Demeo x D&D, Ghost Town, Reach, Arken Age, Lumines Arise, there's a lot to choose from, but we can ultimately only crown one title.
Same as our best PlayStation VR2 game, our winner for VR Game of the Year 2025 is Arken Age. Ghost Town and Roboquest VR have their own individual strengths on Quest and PC VR, yet Arken Age graced each of its platforms with some of the best VR focused design we've seen in 2025.
“Arken Age delivers clever VR-first gameplay design for a great sci-fi adventure,” we said at the time, praising its vibrant presentation and rewarding combat. As mentioned before, our appreciation for VitruviusVR's action-adventure has only grown since launch, and it's a strong choice no matter your headset.
UploadVRHenry StockdaleSo then, what's next? 2025's brought a strong line-up across Quest, PC VR, and PS VR2, and we've seen plenty of promising VR and MR games on the way in 2026.
Some games are already in early access and are currently scheduled or likely to receive full releases next year. That includes Unseen Diplomacy 2, Into The Radius 2, Bootstrap Island, Laser Dance, Pocket Lands, and Forefront.
Several VR adaptations of existing series are on the way too, like Evangelion: Δ Cross Reflections, The Boys: Trigger Warning, Little Nightmares VR, and Orcs Must Die! By The Blade. Then we have Guardians Planetfall, Knights of Fiona, Automa, Aces of Thunder, and Remnant Protocol. Many potential contenders, but what's our top pick?
Our Most Anticipated Game of 2026 goes to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City, an action-adventure that supports single-player and up to four-player co-op. We've already had a brief look at what's to come, and we can't wait to see how Cortopia Studios adapts the iconic series on Quest 3 and PC VR.
UploadVRIan Hamilton
MR Clean could be the PowerWash Simulator of mixed reality, and it's heading to Quest 3/3S next year.
Developed by PotamWorks (Smash Drums), MR Clean is a roomscale mixed reality cleaning game designed around hand tracking controls, where you clear virtual dirt off your walls, floors, and furniture. This also comes with a 'Virtual Objects Mode' where you clean detailed 3D models piece by piece, alongside a two-player 'Party Mode' you can play locally.
It's originally inspired by a mixed reality experiment created in Smash Drums, where you can splatter your room with virtual paint.
“While the painting mechanic became a natural fit for Smash Drums, and one of its more iconic environments, the cleaning phase ultimately didn’t align with a game built around chaos and rock ’n’ roll,” states PotamWorks, who revived the idea for the Meta Horizon Start Developer Competition 2025.
Collaborative content and themed challenges are also planned for the upcoming game. Crossovers have already been confirmed with Red Matter 2, Ancient Dungeon, Deisim, Smash Drums, “and over 15 other fan-favorite experiences.” Finally, PotamWorks states MR Clean will also be compatible with the Quest's Travel Mode.
MR Clean is heading to Quest 3/3S in Q1 2026.
Connexion