A virtual reality version of Bloober Team’s Blair Witch game is coming to Oculus Quest on October 29th, featuring improved dog interaction mechanics. Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition adapts the 2019 survival horror game that’s set in the same world as the cult 1999 film. Its new features take advantage of VR’s hand controllers, giving players more ways to interact with the world. And by “the world,” we mean “your dog” — the game’s friendly canine companion, Bullet.
Actually, Blair Witch’s VR edition includes a variety of new things to do with your hands. Besides stacking and throwing objects you couldn’t interact with in the original game, you can do things like map out your progress by drawing on a map. There are also some unspecified new encounters. Crucially, however, you can now pet Bullet far more immersively — not just by hitting a button. You can even feed him treats or throw items to play fetch.
Blair Witch is a slightly risky proposition for VR. Horror can be extremely effective in a headset, and the original game featured some intriguing stealth and adventure game elements. But it required wandering around an intentionally confusing forest setting, and walking through big spaces is one of the hardest mechanics to translate into VR. (The original game also launched with some frustrating bugs.) Bloober Team previously published a VR adaptation of its horror adventure game Layers of Fear, but it was developed by a third-party studio.
The game is currently exclusive to the Quest platform, and it’s being released a couple of weeks after the Oculus Quest 2 launches on October 13th. It’s coming to unspecified other headsets in the months to come. Meanwhile, Bloober Team is also developing The Medium, a supernatural horror game set for launch later this year.