What you need to know
- The National Football League (NFL) signed an agreement with StatusPRO to create a new annualized first-person VR football game.
- The games will appear on the Meta Quest and PlayStation VR platforms.
- There is currently no release date for the first entry in the series.
If you've been hoping for a way to play your favorite NFL games in VR, the wait for such a title may soon be over. The National Football League (NFL) has inked a deal with StatusPRO — a sports technology company founded by athletes Troy Jones and Andrew Hawkins — to create a new VR NFL simulation game for Meta Quest and PlayStation VR headsets.
The announcement describes the game as a first-person simulation experience, which will be using StatusPRO's "athlete-led technology" to create an authentic VR game. StatusPRO specializes in "augmented, mixed, and virtual reality to provide a suite of training and gaming products that revolutionize the way coaches, players, and fans experience their favorite sport," as described in the press release.
Joe Ruggiero, SVP, Consumer Products at the NFL, says that "virtual reality gaming is rapidly expanding and our partnership with StatusPRO allows us to explore a new immersive version of NFL gaming with support of the two largest VR platforms within this emerging space. We are seeing a growing number of fans engaging with VR and we’re excited to launch the first-ever VR gaming title that complements our existing offerings in the market today.”
A new era has begun. @NFL x StatusPRO pic.twitter.com/cP6emzcZohMarch 23, 2022
If there's one obvious hole in the list of best Quest 2 games and, really, just VR in general, it's a good American Football title. Sure, there are some offerings on the line, but none have the backing that an official NFL-branded game could provide. Citing a number of reviews, innovation in NFL games has dwindled in recent years and seems ready for a shot in the arm.
While the announcement doesn't mention specific headset models, it's highly likely that the game is being developed specifically for the Meta Quest 2 and the upcoming PS VR2. No release date was announced but the deal states that this will be an annualized series of games, meaning we'll see a new one every year with updated rosters and gameplay mechanics.
