Blair Witch game headed to VR this Halloween

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Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the woods.

Blair Witch—the latest official tie-in game to the movie franchise that sparked the found-footage horror trend—was released in August of last year and received a fairly subdued but nevertheless largely positive reception. Developed by Bloober Team—the studio behind the genuinely unsettling Layers of Fear franchise and the nightmarish cyberpunk dystopia Observer—the game has stayed fresh with little additions like the Good Boy Pack, a free DLC released in December, which mainly focussed on improving animations and adding skins for canine companion character Bullet.

Now, though, it seems the good folks at Bloober Team have stepped away from such cute add-ons and gone back to the game's roots—and they're terrifying, gnarled tree roots just waiting to ensnare unwary passers-by. But this time, the scares are happening in VR.

Due to release on October 29th for Oculus Quest—that's right, just in time for Halloween—and with support for other VR platforms due at an unspecified later date, Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition removes that one last shred of safety you felt while playing the original game and, in doing so, looks absolutely terrifying. The vast majority of the game takes place in the dead of night in a forest that manages to be simultaneously way too easy to get lost in and surprisingly claustrophobic—and it looks like the Oculus Quest version will offer much the same again, but strapped to your face. You could always close your eyes… but that probably won't work out too well for you either, will it?

Fortunately, it's not quite wall-to-wall horror: the announcement trailer shows that you'll be able to write freehand on maps in the game (if you can't draw something childish on at least one conveniently included surface is it even really a VR game?), and—most importantly—you can still pet your good buddy Bullet. The trailer claims that there are even some new interactions to be had with him… so in fact, ignore what I said before, this is still quite a cute update.

Blair Witch: Oculus Quest Edition will be available on the Quest Library from October 29th, and is expected to cost $30 at launch.