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Interview: Space Junkies and Quake's influence on VR FPS

We chatted with game producer Adrien Lacy about the virtual reality shooter Space Junkies, from physical presence in VR to how Quake influenced the design.

Charles Singletary Jr

March 22, 2019 3:55 PM

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The virtual reality gaming community has welcomed a couple of major titles to their libraries in 2019, but Ubisoft may be gearing up to release one of the highest profile releases of the year. Space Junkies releases March 26, 2019, and we spoke with one of the game's developers during GDC 2019.

Space Junkies is a jetpack-fueled VR arcade shooter where firefights take place in orbital, zero-gravity arenas.  There are 2v2 and 1v1 matches available and players will have a plethora of weapon choices to utilize, from bombs you fire like a slingshot to Sunblasters. If you're hoping to test the game out, there's a Space Junkies open beta taking place this weekend on PS VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality HMDs. While you get that downloaded, check out the interview below.

When crafting a virtual reality experience, there are elements that developers must pay extra attention to, when they'd be lesser factors otherwise. One of those things is a physical presence, which Lacey says was a major focus for the team. That awareness informed other development aspects as well.

The Ubisoft team is made up of creators that are a bit older in age and classic shooters like Quake actually influence some of the gameplay design decisions for Space Junkies, one specific thing being the higher speed. This shooter uses full locomotion, which can be tricky for VR players, but that decision is part of the speed and fluidity of the Space Junkies experience.

Space Junkies launches March 26, 2019, on PC and PS4. The virtual reality will be playable on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PS VR, and Windows Mixed Reality. Stay tuned to Shacknews for additional gaming and tech updates.

The Shacknews and GamerhubTV YouTube channels are ripe with exclusive interviews like this one with Space Junkies producer Adrien Lacey, demos, event coverage, walkthroughs, gameplay, and a whole lot more if visual content is what you seek. There's a lot more still coming from GDC 2019, so subscribe to both and you'll be notified when new content goes live.

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.