‘Myst’ in VR: Classic game to get a modern reboot with virtual reality debut on Oculus Quest

A new virtual reality version of Myst will be released for Oculus Quest later this year.

The original Myst was the #1 best-selling video game in the world from 1993 to 2002, a “killer app” that contributed to widespread adoption of CD-ROM drives for home computers.

Could a remake have the same effect for virtual reality? That’s a stretch, but the announcement of a new virtual reality edition of Myst is a milestone years in the making for Cyan Worlds, the Spokane, Wash.-based company behind the landmark puzzle game. Remade from the ground up in the Unreal Engine, the new version of Myst will initially be released for the Oculus Quest later this year, with a non-VR PC edition coming at an unspecified later date.

The news Wednesday coincided with the unveiling of the new $299 Oculus Quest 2 from the Facebook-owned virtual reality company.

“We’ve been waiting for the stars to align to create a VR version of Myst,” said Cyan CEO Rand Miller in a statement, “and I’m so excited to announce that alignment! Myst has always been about creating a world to lose yourself in, and VR takes the Myst experience to an entirely new level. It’s an almost magical experience for me, after so many years, to wander around the Ages of Myst and truly feel transported! We hope it will be for you, too.”

The success of Myst put Cyan on the map as an indie game developer, and created a franchise that includes four sequels, three novels (currently published in omnibus format as The Myst Reader), a yearly fan convention, and as of last summer, a film and TV deal with Village Roadshow.

Miller and Cyan have been vocally bullish about virtual reality in the last couple of years. Cyan’s upcoming game Firmament is planned to ship with a VR version alongside a 2D edition at its launch. Cyan founded a new publishing arm of the company, Ventures, in 2018, to focus on bringing out independently-made VR projects. This includes Myst veteran Chuck Carter’s interactive memoir ZED, and the forthcoming Area Man Lives.

Myst puts the player in the role of an unnamed person who is accidentally transported via a magical book to an isolated, seemingly uninhabited island. With no way back, the player is forced to explore the area and solve a variety of puzzles. In so doing, they discover the history of the island and the people who once lived there, as well as the secrets behind the “linking books” that join the island with a number of other disparate worlds.

Notably, Myst features no depictions of violence, time limits, failure conditions, or verbal storytelling to speak of, all of which was nearly unprecedented in 1993. It’s had a significant influence on video games as a medium, and arguably pop culture in general, to this day.

The virtual reality version of Myst is either the third or fourth remake of the original game, depending on how one chooses to define “remake.” The original point-and-click Myst was updated into a Masterpiece Edition in 2000, with upgraded graphics, sound effects, and music. The same year, Ubisoft published realMyst, which overhauled the whole game into a free-roaming 3D adventure, but ran notoriously poorly on most home computers at the time. A full 14 years later, Cyan revisited realMyst to release its own Masterpiece Edition, a Unity-powered remake that later received a major graphics update in 2015.

Cyan’s next original project is the VR puzzle game Firmament, which was successfully crowdfunded last year via Kickstarter. It’s tentatively scheduled to release in 2022.

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Expedia revenue sinks 82% amid ‘worst quarter the travel industry has seen in modern history’

The pandemic crushed Expedia Group’s business during the second quarter as the travel giant saw revenue sink 82% year-over-year to $566 million.

Expedia missed expectations for Q2 revenue and earnings per share, which came in at -$4.09.

The Seattle company’s lodging revenue was down 78%; air tickets sold was down 85%; and advertising/media revenue dipped 91%.

Shares were down more than 3% in after-hours trading.

“The second quarter of 2020 represented likely the worst quarter the travel industry has seen in modern history and Expedia was of course not spared,” Expedia CEO Peter Kern said in a statement.

April was the “bottom of the trough,” Kern said, as cancellations exceeded new bookings.

Kern said gross bookings, which were down 90% in the second quarter, improved through May and June but are still down considerably year-over-year.

“It is clear though that it will be a bumpy and inconsistent recovery with virus numbers being volatile around the globe and country and region restrictions changing all the time,” Kern said in a statement.

This week RBC Capital said online travel is experiencing a “slightly faster recovery” than previously expected, though a resurgence in COVID-19 cases could slow that growth. The firm cited Expedia’s fast-growing international markets and has a 12-month stock price target of $105, up nearly 30% from today. Update: In a post-earnings report, RBC lowered its price target to $93. “Fundamental trends were very negative, but the worst is hopefully behind EXPE,” the firm noted.

(Vrbo website)

Earlier this month Expedia gave a business update, noting a surge in bookings on its vacation rental platform Vrbo. The company cited “drive-to destinations” as one of the first segments of travel to recover from the global health crisis that has restricted travel worldwide since March.

Expedia said today that Vrbo has a higher revenue per room night than the rest of its lodging business.

“People have a real interest in the whole-home model and being able to have their families alone and not in a shared space,” Kern said on an earnings call. “Vrbo really led the way for us.”

Expedia last month announced that it was retiring its HomeAway brand and bringing its entire vacation rental portfolio under the Vrbo name. Expedia paid $3.9 billion in 2015 to acquire HomeAway, which bought Vrbo in 2005.

Vrbo competes with Airbnb and is live in 15 countries. Interest in vacation rentals and camping-related accommodations is up as Americans look for low-risk travel alternatives.

Expedia is exploring additional cost-cutting measures and expects to exceed $500 million in annual run-rate savings this year. Expedia previously said in February — before the pandemic — that it was targeting $300-to-$500 million in annual cost savings in an effort to “streamline and focus” the business. The company laid off about 3,000 employees earlier this year.

Expedia responded to the economic and health crisis by raising $3.2 billion in debt and equity in April. It also made additional cutbacks including employee furloughs and executive salary reductions, and named longtime board member Kern as its new CEO. Kern had been overseeing the company’s operations with Chairman Barry Diller since the ouster of former CEO Mark Okerstrom and CFO Alan Pickerill in December.

In addition to the COVID-19 crisis, Expedia also continues to deal with from Google’s dual role as a rival in online travel, and a key source of customers through search traffic and paid advertising.

Since nose-diving in March, Expedia’s stock has risen steadily and has nearly doubled over the past four months.

The company last year moved to a new 40-acre waterfront campus in Seattle.

Expedia Group includes brands and sites such as Vrbo, Travelocity, Orbitz, and many others, in addition to the flagship Expedia.com.

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Expedia revenue sinks 82% amid ‘worst quarter the travel industry has seen in modern history’

The pandemic crushed Expedia Group’s business during the second quarter as the travel giant saw revenue sink 82% year-over-year to $566 million.

Expedia missed expectations for Q2 revenue and earnings per share, which came in at -$4.09.

The Seattle company’s lodging revenue was down 78%; air tickets sold was down 85%; and advertising/media revenue dipped 91%.

Shares were down more than 3% in after-hours trading.

“The second quarter of 2020 represented likely the worst quarter the travel industry has seen in modern history and Expedia was of course not spared,” Expedia CEO Peter Kern said in a statement.

April was the “bottom of the trough,” Kern said, as cancellations exceeded new bookings.

Kern said gross bookings, which were down 90% in the second quarter, improved through May and June but are still down considerably year-over-year.

“It is clear though that it will be a bumpy and inconsistent recovery with virus numbers being volatile around the globe and country and region restrictions changing all the time,” Kern said in a statement.

This week RBC Capital said online travel is experiencing a “slightly faster recovery” than previously expected, though a resurgence in COVID-19 cases could slow that growth. The firm cited Expedia’s fast-growing international markets and has a 12-month stock price target of $105, up nearly 30% from today. Update: In a post-earnings report, RBC lowered its price target to $93. “Fundamental trends were very negative, but the worst is hopefully behind EXPE,” the firm noted.

(Vrbo website)

Earlier this month Expedia gave a business update, noting a surge in bookings on its vacation rental platform Vrbo. The company cited “drive-to destinations” as one of the first segments of travel to recover from the global health crisis that has restricted travel worldwide since March.

Expedia said today that Vrbo has a higher revenue per room night than the rest of its lodging business.

“People have a real interest in the whole-home model and being able to have their families alone and not in a shared space,” Kern said on an earnings call. “Vrbo really led the way for us.”

Expedia last month announced that it was retiring its HomeAway brand and bringing its entire vacation rental portfolio under the Vrbo name. Expedia paid $3.9 billion in 2015 to acquire HomeAway, which bought Vrbo in 2005.

Vrbo competes with Airbnb and is live in 15 countries. Interest in vacation rentals and camping-related accommodations is up as Americans look for low-risk travel alternatives.

Expedia is exploring additional cost-cutting measures and expects to exceed $500 million in annual run-rate savings this year. Expedia previously said in February — before the pandemic — that it was targeting $300-to-$500 million in annual cost savings in an effort to “streamline and focus” the business. The company laid off about 3,000 employees earlier this year.

Expedia responded to the economic and health crisis by raising $3.2 billion in debt and equity in April. It also made additional cutbacks including employee furloughs and executive salary reductions, and named longtime board member Kern as its new CEO. Kern had been overseeing the company’s operations with Chairman Barry Diller since the ouster of former CEO Mark Okerstrom and CFO Alan Pickerill in December.

In addition to the COVID-19 crisis, Expedia also continues to deal with from Google’s dual role as a rival in online travel, and a key source of customers through search traffic and paid advertising.

Since nose-diving in March, Expedia’s stock has risen steadily and has nearly doubled over the past four months.

The company last year moved to a new 40-acre waterfront campus in Seattle.

Expedia Group includes brands and sites such as Vrbo, Travelocity, Orbitz, and many others, in addition to the flagship Expedia.com.

View the original article here

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