PlayStation VR Team First Contact Entertainment To Shutter Its Studio

For 2023, PlayStation VR faced a new dawn with the newer PlayStation VR 2 launching this year. Part of the new peripheral hitting store shelves is the impressive lineup that launched with the device. Initially more than two dozen games were primed for release. And days before launch, an extra handful of titles were added then. And this list continued to grow.

We saw this with the launch of Beat Saber for PlayStation VR 2 earlier this summer. Additionally, even Gran Turismo 7 offered a new update as well. The most notable is the update that shipped this month with the PlayStation VR 2 welcoming Resident Evil 4 Remake as well – at no additional cost also. One exciting project is the return of First Contact Entertainment with Firewall Ultra launching exclusively for the PlayStation VR 2.

However, the California-based developer has announced this past week that it is to close its doors just short of a decade operating. Via a post on Facebook, it confirms that the team plans to shutter the studio due to “the lack of support for VR within the industry.” President & CEO Hess Barber also made a statement on the announcement.

“After almost 8 years of working with the most amazing team I’ve ever have the pleasure of being part of, I’m sad to announce that we will be closing our company First Contact Entertainment by the end of the year. The lack of support for VR within the industry has eventually taken its toll. As a AAA VR game developer, we are just not able to justify the expense needed gouging forward,” the Facebook post reads.

Although not a proper PlayStation VR developer, First Contact Entertainment did leave a very large impression on the platform with Firewall of course as well as Solaris: Offworld Combat. Similarly, a team to this level of recognition did close previously as well. PixelOpus, the team behind Concrete Genie, also shuttered back in May 2023. You can read the full report by heading here.

What is your thought on the closure of First Contact Entertainment?

Source: First Contact Entertainment