Brazilian indie XR developer and publisher ARVORE has announced that its VR game YUKI is receiving a new mixed reality mode called YUKI MRcade. The new mixed reality mode called YUKI MRcade will arrive as a free expansion for the main game and is coming with a partnership with HTC VIVE. The new mixed reality mode for Yuki will be showcased at the upcoming SXSW Festival 2023 as well where players will be able to experience YUKI MRcade running on the cutting-edge HTC VIVE XR Elite headset.
Check out the new YUKI MRcade mode in action in the teaser trailer below:
YUKI is a VR game where you use your hands and body to battle your way against fierce enemies as it blends roguelike and bullet hell into one game. While holding a toy action figure, you fly through a kid’s imagination and dodge an infinite barrage of bullets through amazing environments, and with the latest mixed reality upgrade, you will be able to bring all of the action to your living room. With the new update in place, YUKI will turn your living space into a battlefield as you use your hands and body to fight against enemies invading your very own room.
While playing the game, the VR headset will show your very own room inside the headset, and thanks to mixed reality, the game will open virtual portals in your room and enemies will emerge from them, ready to attack you. The new mode will present a completely new experience for the players offering redesigned gameplay, new enemies, and challenges. Kako, YUKI’s Creative Director comments:
YUKI’s MRcade Mode is a dream come true to our dev team. Since day one back in 2020, we always wanted to somehow explore a 360 gameplay. We knew it would be a complete different experience, with new creative challenges in every aspect of the game. When we had the green light to create the Mixed Reality mode we knew what to do and the result goes way beyond what everyone expected in many levels. It’s a complete new approach to YUKI, a new way to explore your room and your awareness. I’m sure YUKI and XR players will have an amazing experience.
Bringing mixed reality to YUKI was no easy task and the developer has shared the three main challenges that the team faced while bringing this brand-new mode to the game. Let’s hear it in the team’s own words:
Translating the Universe to MR – In keeping with the game’s core fantasy, the team kept the original theme and adapted game elements to fit the new and reimagining ones.This allowed players to immerse themselves in the game’s story, identify elements they were already familiar with, and explore the world in new and exciting ways. The game had to still feel like YUKI, but fit within each user’s home and space that was now a new dimension of the game.
User Interface – For this new mode, the user interface has been totally redesigned, ensuring that players could easily understand the information on the screen while moving around in physical space. Readability and understanding were fundamental to the success of the game and, therefore, the development team invested in an intuitive and clean interface that also had to exist and work within the mixed reality context of the user’s own space.
Spatial Exploration – Another important challenge was adding a new spatial dimension to the game, allowing users to play in 360 degrees around their own real space. This is a big design change from the “on-rails” design of the base YUKI VR game, and many considerations had to be made here, including player safety. It was essential that players could play safely while avoiding collisions with objects and other people in the real world. Everything has been designed with that in mind, from enemy positioning, fair 360 exploration, challenge construction, and bullet design and movement.
If you are heading to SXSW later this month, you can swing by YUKI’s booth to try out YUKI MRcade at booth number 201, map location, Selection XR Experience Spotlight. YUKI is currently available for PC via Steam, Oculus Store, and PS VR. The new MRcade mode will arrive for free for all platforms.
What are your thoughts on the new mixed reality mode MRcade announced for YUKI? Let us know in the comments section below.
