Develop October 2016: The Virtual Reality Special

The latest issue of Develop is out now, and – like most things nowadays – it’s all about virtual reality.

To herald the arrival of PlayStation VR and follow-up on this year’s Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, we have dedicated the entire magazine to the concept of virtual reality development, looking at where the technology can go now that it’s finally in the hands of consumers.

Endeavouring to cover as many facets of VR design as possible, we offer a comprehensive look at game design, audio techniques, multiplayer, motion controllers, storytelling, breaking out of genre definitions, career opportunities and more.

To do so, we’ve called on countless VR experts to offer insight, even profiling some of the work done by ambitious virtual reality studios. Our contributors this month include (in no particular order) Squanchtendo, Oculus, Apelab, Labcoat Studios, Frima Studio, CCP, Triangular Pixels, Resolution Games, Rebellion, NDreams, Zerolight, Gaijin Entertainment, Force Field VR, Ustwo Games, Three One Zero, Fierce Kaiju, Epic Games, Autodesk, Amazon, Crytek, Unity, Tammeka Games, Supermassive Games, Audiokinetic – the list goes on.

You can read this jam-packed issue on your browser or mobile device here. If you’re not already subscribed to Develop, you can sign up for as little as £35 to ensure you receive your monthly dose of development goodness year-round.

Here’s a full overview of what to expect this month:

• The future of VR: Experts discuss the next step for the technology, from mainstream adoption to reaching other industries
• The Develop guide to VR Design: An eight-page comprehensive look at the various challenging aspects of creating games for virtual reality, encompassing control, art style, accessibility, user comfort, player space, game length, QA testing and more
• Interview with Oculus co-founderNate Mitchell about the firm’s priorities now that virtual reality is finally available to consumers
• We speak to developers about designing multiplayer games for VR
• Developers and middleware providers offer advice on audio design for virtual reality
• Engine providers discuss the impact virtual reality is having on their technology, and the evolution of VR editors
• The Develop Post-Mortem takes an in-depth look at Space Pirate Trainer
• Sequenced creator Apelab discuss the potential for storytelling in virtual reality
• Radial Games discuss balancing physically active game deisgn with accessibility in Fantastic Contraption 
• Californian studio Labcoat Studios talks about exploring new and almost indefinable genres
• Interview with Squanchtendo, the new studio from an ex-Epic producer and the co-creator of Rick & Morty
• How tech firms are attempting to make controlling games even more realistic with VR gloves
• SuperData’s Stephanie Llamas explains why pushing VR to grow may actually slow it down
• Shahid Ahmad reflects on the challenge of truly conveying the power of virtual reality to newcomers
• Unity Focus: Diving into Google Daydream
• Unreal Diaries: How UE4.13 is empowering VR developers
• Ask Amiqus: Is now the time to specialise in VR?
• The jobs section includes a roundtable with recruitment agencies on the skills required and rising demand for VR positions