Hidden IO has announced its upcoming VR game, ZIX, which will be released next year as a co-op VR action roguelike that utilizes speed and style.
Taking the concept of the roguelike games to the next level, ZIX has been announced to be released next year as a co-op VR game, allowing the players to immerse themselves in the roguelike setting as they take on the role of an Acolyte with speed and style, and tasked to spread chaos across the universe. But to complete your task, you will need to discover and mix many ingredients that could alter the content of each run, such as replacing an enemy from another world, lowering gravity to reach a secret, and many more that could remix the reality and uncover the secret of ZIX.
Founded in 2023 by brothers Sol and Tam Tahirli, Hidden IO has secured support and funding from Meta, being accepted into their Oculus Publishing program, as well from Canadian Media Fund with the development of ZIX progressing steadily as a means of connection between the two siblings. The brothers have talked about growing up as a refugee, gaming was their source of comfort and stability, but with the pandemic, it took away their ability to sit side by side and share the joy of playing their favourite games together. But with the power of VR gaming, the brothers felt connected, but there wasn’t enough depth to keep playing the few co-op games available.
With their experience during the pandemic, the brothers decided to tackle this issue with the game ZIX. The VR roguelike game blends the gameplay and depths of titles they have loved, including Risk of Rain 2, Enter the Gungeon, and The Binding of Isaac, with a mix of VR games like Gorilla Tag and Nock. What started as a small project to reconnect the brothers has evolved into something bigger with a team effort.
As the players enter the world of ZIX through VR, the game will offer many features to utilize. The features included are:
- Gesture-Based Combat: Master the FIRST INSTINCT system, allowing the players to use simple gestures and triggers for seamless actions like dashing, jumping, and wielding a wide array of weapons without needing to look down at their controllers.
- Recipe-Roguelike Progression: Mix the elements from three worlds that could influence your run. Experiment with many recipes to unlock powerful abilities, secret areas, and environmental changes during your runs.
- Procedural Ability Auguments: Allowing the players to upgrade their abilities with stacking augments for endless unique builds in every playthrough.
- Cross-Platform Mayhem: Chance to play solo or co-op with up to two VR friends across the platform to cause havoc.
Are you looking forward to playing ZIX? If so, the game can be wishlist on Steam and the Meta Quest store. To keep up-to-date with the developments and learn more about upcoming news, you can visit the Hidden IO website.
