Virtual reality air guitar is arriving in 2021

Think your air guitar chops are good? You'll soon be able to put them to the test, as a new guitar-based virtual reality game has been announced for 2021.

Unplugged: Air Guitar is being developed by new virtual reality studio Anotherway, and will arrive on the standalone VR system Oculus Quest, published by Vertigo Games. 

It follows a similar blueprint to that of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, where the player takes the place of a guitarist and presses buttons in time with a simplified version of music notation.

However, what sets it apart from its predecessors is the fact that users will play without a physical controller; the game will use Oculus Quest's built-in hand tracking system to register inputs instead.

Check out the gameplay in action below, in which you can see a stream of colorful notes representing Searching for the Truth by The Electric Alley being fired at the would-be air shredder's fretting hand.

Says Kimara Rouwit, Marketing Director at Vertigo Games, “Like many in the VR community, from players to creators, we were impressed by the tempting live gig atmosphere, '80s music fanzine art style and innovative air guitar gameplay shown in the first Unplugged gameplay teasers that circulated online earlier this year.

“We’re excited to officially bring aboard the talented Anotherway team and are fully geared towards helping them realize their as-of-yet-unrevealed ambitions for Unplugged, which will see them elevate their great gameplay concept in exciting ways.”

“What started out as a passion project seemed to grab the attention of many VR media and content creators, and we soon realized that the project had much potential and we needed a partner to help us bring it to life,” adds Julia Casal, Producer at Anotherway. 

“By partnering with Vertigo Games we are able to scale up the project and pursue our ambitious goals. The experience has been wonderful so far and we are extremely motivated to start the journey of working on Unplugged along with them.”

Unplugged: Air Guitar for Oculus Quest is slated for release in Q3, 2021.