Drama between two world wars: Arte announces VR adventure "The Amusement"
In cooperation with the German studio Curvature Games, the European cultural channel Arte has announced the virtual reality game "The Amusement".
Arte is once again acting as a gaming publisher and announces the VR adventure "The Amusement" from a German studio.
The historical drama “The Amusement” is set in the 1920s and is aesthetically inspired by the Luna Parks of that era. Players follow the story of 19-year-old Samantha Burkhart, who is asked by her mother to visit the once-thriving amusement park of her deceased father. However, the journey becomes a confrontation with family trauma. Amidst dilapidated attractions such as a labyrinth or a roller coaster, players dive into memory fragments that tell of the parents' conflict-ridden relationship and the aftermath of the First World War.
Developer Curvature Games aims to make protagonist Samantha's past tangible not only narratively but also physically through virtual reality. In addition to free movement, players can therefore also climb, swing, or ride on rails and solve puzzles by triggering mechanisms or moving objects. The interaction with the environment should be natural and as realistic as possible, without mere button presses on the controllers.
Redirected Walking for higher VR comfort and more immersion
Technically, “The Amusement” relies on the so-called “redirected walking” method to achieve the most pleasant player experience possible without the risk of motion sickness. With this VR locomotion technique, movements in the real world are guided in such a way that players can move freely through large virtual areas despite limited space—for example, through subtle visual adjustments that lead them in circles unnoticed. According to Curvature Games, a play area of two by two meters is sufficient for this. Teleportation is also optionally possible.
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The studio Curvature Games, specializing in XR content, was founded in 2020 and has already attracted attention with titles such as “Elevator… to the Moon!”, “Bat Batty Bats,” and “Frozen Factory.” For the new project, funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and from Gamecity Hamburg has been confirmed.
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Arte France acts as co-producer and publisher. The cultural channel has been promoting interactive storytelling for over a decade, including games like “Type:Rider” or the recently released “Gloomy Eyes,” a horror adventure in the style of Tim Burton. With “The Amusement,” Arte aims to further strengthen the connection between artistic vision and immersive technology as part of a program that aims to make culture accessible in digital media.
“The Amusement” is scheduled to be released in 2026 for SteamVR and Meta Quest. There is no specific release date yet. The studio plans to announce further details about the story and mechanics in the run-up to the release.
(joe)
