The Magic Leap augmented reality headset is getting new games, and grants for indie developers. The Magic Leap Independent Creator Program is a new initiative to bring developers to the new ecosystem. Along with that several games from well-known developers have been shown off at LEAPCon.
The Magic Leap Independent Creator Program is designed to support indie development for the headset. Accepted studios will get access to financial support, development kits, marketing promotion, and engineering support as they build their products. Alongside the creator program will be an awards system to recognize particularly well-received games. The program will be launching later this year.
LEAPCon also saw the reveal of several new games. Insomniac Games, developer of Spider-Man PS4, announced Seedling for the headset. Insomniac’s Nathaniel Bell announced the game in a blog post today. He said that the game is Insomniac asking, “how can we use mixed reality to bring a bit of sparkle, a bit of wonder into the world around us.” Seedling is a game where you grow an alien plant, nurturing it and altering how it grows. Almost like if Tamagotchi and Spore had an augmented reality plant baby.
Rovio announced Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot a few weeks ago in mid-September. Resolution Games is behind the Angry Birds title, and the studio is also developing several other AR titles for the Magic Leap One.
Luna: Moondust Garden is another game coming to the headset. It is a sequel to Luna which originally released on PC in 2017. Luna: Moondust Garden was revealed with gameplay during LEAPCon today.
The Magic Leap One is available now across the United States for a eye-watering $2,295. It’s so expensive that users will have to pay $96 per month for two years for their contract. While the cost is admittedly high, the Magic Leap One is an all-in-one system like the recently announced Oculus Quest. The difference here is that the Quest is a scaled-down VR option, while the Magic Leap is an integrated System-on-a-Chip (SoC) system built for mixed or augmented reality. More information on the device can be found on the company’s website.
