EVE: Valkyrie, the multiplayer space dogfighting game that launched with the Oculus Rift in 2016, has gotten an update that makes the VR headset optional. The new expansion, called EVE: Valkyrie - Warzone, changes the Valkyrie gameplay pretty significantly. It reworks the fleet of ships to emphasize specific roles, removes the “launch tube” ship-selection system in favor of making all ships immediately available, sets up a new upgrade system, and adds a “capture the flag”-style game mode called Extraction, along with two new maps. But most notably, it adds non-VR PC and PlayStation 4 support, allowing cross-platform competition with players on the existing Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, or HTC Vive versions, which will get a “free mandatory upgrade” to Warzone.
EVE: Valkyrie, VR’s first big game, is no longer VR-only
EVE: Valkyrie is set in the world of CCP Games’ EVE Online, and it was the Oculus Rift’s best-known launch title, coming bundled with all headset preorders. It later launched on Vive and PlayStation VR, becoming the first game with cross-platform play on all three high-end systems. Warzone cuts Valkyrie’s price to $29.99; it was announced in mid-August and described as a “complete overhaul” to the game.
Like all Oculus Rift launch games, Valkyrie used a standard gamepad instead of the motion controllers that have now become standard on VR headsets. That makes it relatively easy to translate onto a flat screen, although the title has been dinged for seeming somewhat generic by the standards of the larger, non-VR games industry. CCP hasn’t released Valkyrie sales numbers, but Valkyrie’s much more casual sister game EVE: Gunjack has been one of the best-selling VR titles, passing 500,000 copies sold across desktop and mobile platforms early this year.
