Swords of Gurrah is hosting a community-funded tournament with a prize pool that already exceeds $1,300 that will be distributed among the top competitors following several weeks of 1 on 1 competition set to begin this weekend.
A competitive VR game, Swords of Gurrah is focused around hand-to-hand combat weapons and for those of us who love melee weapons, it’s excellent to see someone investing creatively in this particular area of VR gaming.
Not only is the development team at Devster trying to create a top quality VR experience that offers something different than other games on the market, they also understand the concept of community-building.
“This community has been built up by hands-on interactions,” states Devin Richman, lead developer and founder of Devster. He says the goal has been to welcome everyone and encourage them to reach out to the development team if they have questions or feedback. “We take all input seriously, from game ideas to things they want in Discord and on other social media areas.”
The Devster Discord launched last July and already has nearly 4,000 members. These are impressive numbers for a VR game and a community-funded tournament is no small feat so obviously these guys are doing something right.
Tournament
Already over 150 players have registered for the 1 v 1 tournament that will begin tomorrow. The event is being organized through Challonge and while the number of participants has almost reached the cap for this event, there are sure to be other tournaments.
The bracket will be posted on Challonge and players will find out each week who they’re matched against. They’ll play roughly four to five matches each week during the tournament, which will last throughout the next several weeks.
Weekly highlights from the 1 on 1 fights will be posted on the official Devster YouTube channel. Grand finals will be streamed on the Devster Games Twitch
The Game
Swords of Gurrah has several different game modes, but the 1 v 1 mode is a gladiator style competition where you fight in a battle arena with swords that shatter when you make contact.
Richman came up with the swords shattering idea while sitting in his work area without a headset holding controllers. As he waved them back and forth, he considered ways to make swords collide without feeling weight. When they shatter, you add the visual and sound effects to the light weight of the controllers, which gives a more immersive experience for sword fighting in VR.
Swords of Gurrah is still in early access and probably won’t be ready for full release until sometime next year, but the developers are working diligently to make sure it’s in top condition for full release. In addition to the 1 v 1 mode, the game already offers team death match and a capture the flag mode.
In the next update, Richman shared that the developers will be introducing a King of the Hill mode, an Attack / Defend mode, and an Oddball mode, where someone holds a small item and earns points as long as they maintain control of the item. There are plans to release a Siege mode in December.
Community
If you’re a VR enthusiast and enjoy melee games, this would be a great one to check out. You can purchase Sword of Gurrah on Steam VR and play on all the major tethered headsets, including the Oculus Rift and Rift S, Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality. You can also play on the standalone Oculus Quest with the Link cable.
The Swords of Gurrah community is incredibly active so if you’d like to become involved, be sure to join their Discord and follow Devster on social media!
VR Fitness Summit
Devin Richman will be participating in Virtual Athletics League’s VR Fitness Summit in early September. Details of Richman’s panel will be released next week so stay tuned to VR Fitness Insider for more information. The summit celebrates VR fitness and competition with over 40 groups participating to bring awareness of the benefits when you combine an exercise program in immersive reality with healthy lifestyle changes.
