Publisher and developer UNIVRS has released a new promotional video and the release date for the upcoming game Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing. The game will launch on the Oculus Quest later this year.
The game is based on the anime Little Witch Academia, which was produced by Trigger. In the series, the protagonist Akko, enters a magic academy. Akko has to persevere through several challenges but grows in thanks to her new friends and classmates.
Players will get to create a custom character who is enrolled in Luna Noa Magical Academy. This is so everyone can have the opportunity to talk to their favorite characters from the series. Those who do well in the solo races can upgrade to team-based battles. This is where classmates can pair up with players to take on race challenges.
The new trailer is less than a minute long. It shows some of the characters who appear in the series, along with a sample of the VR action. In one portion of the game, players will fly through the sky to collect gold present boxes.
In Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing, players will freely fly using a broom and use their magical powers to race through the skies. UNIVRS has used its unique technology to significantly reduce motion sickness that some face while dealing with first-person and VR games. By reducing VR sickness, more players can enjoy the game for longer periods of time.
The Kickstarter page further clarifies the connection between VR and motion sickness:
People can get motion sickness from VR the way they can from vehicles because their body and vision are in discrepancy as their body isn’t moving even though their vision is making them feel like they are.
Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing was brought to life in part thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign in mid-2019. There were over 550 backers who donated around $76,000 to help with development costs. While UNIVRS is developing the game, they are also working with the animation studio, Trigger, plus Toho, Good Smile Company, Ultra Super Pictures, and many others.
The game has been in development since the end of the campaign. The developer brought a sample of images from the game to events such as AX 2019.
The game was previously announced for additional consoles and PC, but will only release on one VR platform at this time. The PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and Steam VR version of the game is not expected until 2021.
Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing will first launch on the Oculus Quest on October 13.
