Starbreeze Studios announces Virtual Reality arcade in Los AngelesJan 26(AZINS) Swedish game studio Starbreeze is set to open a video game arcade to help show off its headset -- StarVR -- and is dubbing the proposed attraction StarCade. The "arcade hall" was the subject of a January 23 announcement, coinciding with Starbreeze's attendance of the Virtual Reality LA Winter Expo at the LA Convention Center.

Starbreeze Studios, headquartered on the east coast of Sweden in capital city Stockholm, has been on the up in recent years. Developed by subsidiary Overkill, the game Payday 2 (2012) was welcomed upon release for its blend of movie heist homages and intense, barely containable team-based chaos. A slew of add-on content followed, with the PC game being brought to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in 2015.

Meanwhile, European Film Award-nominated director Josef Fares was brought on board to steer Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (2013), a moving tale known for its innovation, presentation, and emotional power. More recently, Starbreeze snapped up the French team behind an emerging and ambitious piece of VR kit.

InfinitEye, as it was called then, promised true widescreen virtual reality, displays capable of pushing 5K images, with the impressive device assembled by a team of three amateur enthusiasts from Toulouse. Renamed StarVR after the June 2015 acquisition, Starbreeze's new head-mounted display became the vehicle for its own ventures into virtual reality. It already had a partnership between Overkill and Robert Kirkman's Skybound Entertainment to create a new game based on The Walking Dead, and that project would provide a VR experience used to help demonstrate StarVR.

The LA StarCade is intended to acquaint both general public and enthusiasts with the StarVR headset, as well as a point of display for other developers that want to see their own projects in play. At the same time, StarCade represents an opportunity for Starbreeze to conduct a pilot experiment, to understand how StarVR is received, as it aims to provide a premium VR experience. StarCade is to open Spring / Summer 2016 at an undisclosed Los Angeles location.

Meanwhile, Facebook-owned Oculus VR launches the US $599 Oculus Rift in March, with the HTC Vive expected April and Sony's PlayStation VR set for the first half of 2016. Pricing on the latter two units, as well as StarVR, is yet to be announced.