Welcome to the end of 2023, Action Heroes!
And what a year it has been. Not only did 2023 mark Cloudhead’s 10th anniversary as an independent 50 person VR studio, we got to bring a massive roadmap of new content to Pistol Whip—plus a sneaky hint at what we’re working on next.
If you missed any of the news, or would just like to join us for a trip down memory lane, we’ve put every exciting moment from the last year all in one place. Let’s take a look!
PSVR 2 Day One Launch + Our HUGE Metascore Moment!
We kicked off 2023 with a bang—the launch of PlayStation VR2, where Pistol Whip had the honour of being a Day One launch title! PS VR2 brought so many new improvements—headset rumble, controller haptics, and more—that we couldn’t resist sneaking some upgrades into the new PS VR2 version of Pistol Whip.
We were already proud of the results, but once our shiny new PS5 Metascore of 90 rolled in (placing us in the top 10 games ever released on the platform!) it was nice to know the world agreed.
Best of all, the game is available as a free upgrade for those who already own it on PS VR1!
Overdrive Season
From there, we kicked into overdrive. No, literally: we started the Overdrive Season, with a new Scene dropping in Pistol Whip every month, for free, all summer long!
Featuring tracks from Apashe, Lektrique, and Black Tiger Sex Machine, Overdrive boasted some of our most high octane, over-the-top moments yet. MC Escher worlds, a robot gladiator arena, and even a medieval battlefield beset by dragons.
If you haven’t played Pistol Whip in a while, this free update is the perfect place to get back into the fray.
Pistol Mix
We know this one was at the top of a lot of your wishlists, Action Heroes, and we’re so happy we got to make it happen.
Released this summer, Pistol Mix is the official modding tool for Pistol Whip, allowing players like you to create your own custom Scenes from scratch, and share with the entire community via in-game download. (Or the Pistol Whip Discord, where modders have been swapping tips and feedback on in-progress levels since day one!)
We knew our players were talented, but now that we’ve got to see your creativity on full display with custom Remixes, we’re truly in awe. We want to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to all our incredible modders out there for helping to make Pistol Mix so much fun!
Elixir of Madness! Collection
The heat of summer may have faded, but we never took our foot off the gas. Just as the Overdrive Season came to a glorious close, we shimmied right into our next free drop, Elixir of Madness!
This Collection brought three all-new Scenes, each one delving deeper into a vintage world of dancing skeletons, spiraling madness, and a whole new genre of music: electroswing! It may have been perfect for the spooky season, but just like all of Pistol Whip’s content, you can play Elixir of Madness! all year around.
The Best Is Yet To Come
2023 has been one of our busiest years yet, and we're honoured to have landed on quite a few year-end Best of VR lists, but there’s always something new in the works here at Cloudhead. We haven’t announced anything officially yet, but if you look closely, we’ve definitely been dropping some juicy hints.
In our 10th Anniversary celebration post in August, we shared another roadmap for Pistol Whip which, you may have noticed, includes new content all the way into 2024.
Right alongside that announcement, our CEO and Creative Director Denny Unger shared the sneakiest peak at our next big project.
“Our next VR project is a culmination of everything we’ve learned from our decade in VR game development. Whether you’re a Pistol Whip diehard, brand new to VR, or an enthusiast, we’re making something we think you—and your friends—will love.”
2024 is going to be huge, heroes. We hope you and yours have an excellent and safe holiday season, and we’ll see you on the flipside for some serious VR excitement!