Tuesday, 9 July, 2024 UTC
Summary
As GRIM and Silent North head for early access, the Ghosts of Tabor studio's CEO isn't a fan of Meta phasing out App Lab.
While Combat Waffle Studios is best known for Ghosts of Tabor, it's currently working on two other upcoming projects. For the unfamiliar, Silent North is an open-world survival horror/MMO hybrid zombie game, while GRIM is a survival multiplayer game being co-developed with Spoonfed Interactive.
During a Ghosts of Tabor event last month, I interviewed Combat Waffle's CEO, Scott Albright. I queried his thoughts on the plans to retire App Lab, Meta's less visible on-ramp to the Quest Store.
"I don't really like that they're phasing it out. App Lab is such a useful tool for indie devs, especially when you're working on stuff that's never been done before, and you're not sure if you have an audience there. Without App Lab, I don't think Tabor would have been as successful as it is. I think we would've gotten lost on the main Quest Store."
Albright initially told me that GRIM and Silent North would reach App Lab first, much like Ghosts of Tabor. However, it's since been confirmed that the Meta Horizon Store will launch on August 5, and App Lab apps will become visible but with an early access tag applied. That marks the second phasing-out stage for the experimental platform after some App Lab apps became publicly findable in May.
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Addressing this change from Meta, Beyond Frames Entertainment provided UploadVR with the following statement.
"We believe in launching in Early Access to prove audience demand, refine gameplay features, and develop the final stretch of a product together with the community. It was a very successful formula for Ghosts of Tabor, and something we intend to maintain with GRIM and Silent North."
At the same Ghosts of Tabor event last month, Albright told a fireside chat that GRIM and Silent North will be playable at Gamescom 2024. Starting on a comparative note, Albright accepts that Tabor is "not for every player in VR," calling it "very complicated" and explaining that you "don't have a ton of time" for grinding. By comparison, Silent North can be played more casually.
"With Silent North, we took the core of Tabor and brought in more cartoonish, Walking Dead-style cel-shaded art. We're bringing some mechanics people love in Tabor, like mag insertion and backpacks. The backpack systems are a little different now, it's still a physical backpack, and we put it in a much cooler environment that you don't have to grind so hard for. You can just get in and casually play and enjoy it."
GRIM VR currently targets an early access launch in 2024, while Silent North's release window remains unconfirmed.
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