Flutter Entertainment-owned PokerStars VR is set to be a launch title for Facebook owner Meta’s Quest Pro mixed reality headset, which is expected to launch on 25 October.
The firm’s free-to-play virtual and mixed-reality social casino game will be one of a select few game titles chosen to launch alongside the flagship device, which was revealed by Meta yesterday (11 October).
The Quest Pro, which comes with an eye-watering $1,499 price tag (compared to existing headset the Quest 2 which starts at $399), brings the added benefit of mixed reality capability, allowing digital content to be overlaid on the real world.Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has described mixed reality as “the next major step for VR”.
Flutter said Lucky VR, the developers of PokerStars VR, have been working behind the scenes to come up with new ways of taking advantage of the headset’s capabilities and integrate them into the free-to-play casino game.
PokerStars director of VR and innovation James O’Reilly: “Our goal with PokerStars VR is to push the potential of new technologies as far as we can to create a fun and authentic social casino game that really is limitless.”
PokerStars VR players using the Quest Pro will be able to choose between a fully immersive virtual reality experience, a partially immersive experience that brings objects or spaces from the physical world into the game through “passthrough windows”, and a full mixed reality experience allowing players to bring virtual game elements into their own world.
Further, face and eye-tracking technology will add an additional dimension to the game, allowing players to make and see more realistic facial expressions in their customised avatars.Players will be able to smile, frown, and glance at their cards as they would at a real poker table.
“Our goal with PokerStars VR is to push the potential of new technologies as far as we can to create a fun and authentic social casino game that really is limitless,” said James O’Reilly, director of VR and innovation at PokerStars.
“We’re extremely proud to be part of the launch of Meta’s Quest Pro, which is a transformation in virtual and mixed reality. Our developers have been having great fun exploring what this technology means for our players and we can’t wait to show them what we have in store.”
PokerStars VR offers players a variety of free-to-play casino games in addition to poker. Roulette, Blackjack and slots also feature, while last week the brand announced the addition of craps to its list of available games.