It was last month that developer Halfbrick Studios revealed its fruit slicing videogame Fruit Ninja would be heading to the HTC Vive head-mounted display (HMD). Today Fruit Ninja VR has launched on the HMD via Steam.
Featuring three gameplay modes Classic, Arcade and Zen, Fruit Ninja VR keeps its core mechanic that made it so popular on mobile platforms whilst updating to take advantage of virtual reality (VR) technology.
Incorporating all the 360-degree movement the HTC Vive allows, Fruit Ninja VR now challenges players with tricks and manoeuvres to help increase scores. With the positional-tracked controllers players can duel wield swords, juggle and skewer fruit whilst swatting away bombs.
Fruit Ninja VR only features single-player but all highscores will be tracked on global leaderboards. While future updates will introduce customisable blades and costumes, new locations and characters from the Fruit Ninja universe, and a PvP battle mode which is due to arrive later this year.
“Virtual reality gives us the freedom and power to implement some pretty amazing features,” said Adam Wood, Product Manager for Fruit Ninja VR. “This is still the Fruit Ninja our fans know and love, but the new gameplay mechanics make a world of difference.”
Launching on Steam Early Access, Fruit Ninja VR is offering a 20% discount off the full price for the next 7 days. “Early Access is also a fantastic way to involve players throughout the game’s development,” added Nicholas Cornelius, Chief Marketing Officer at Halfbrick. “This is just the beginning, and we will continue to work hand-in-hand with the Steam community to make this a game that can stand the test of time.”
Support for Oculus Rift, Google Daydream, and PlayStation VR should arrive later this year the developer has said, and VRFocus will bring you all the latest details as we get them.
