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Impulse Gear

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Impulse Gear
Information
Industry Video games, virtual reality
Founded 2013
Founder Seth Luisi, Greg Koreman
Headquarters San Francisco, California, United States
Notable Personnel Seth Luisi (co-founder, game director), Greg Koreman (co-founder, CTO)
Products Farpoint, Larcenauts
Website https://www.impulsegear.com


Impulse Gear is an independent video game developer based in downtown San Francisco that develops virtual reality games. It was founded in late 2013 by Seth Luisi and Greg Koreman.[1][2] Its first game was Farpoint (2017), a first-person shooter for PlayStation VR published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Farpoint launched together with the PlayStation VR Aim controller, a rifle-shaped motion controller that began as Impulse Gear prototypes and was finished with Sony.[3][2]

The studio's second game, the multiplayer team shooter Larcenauts, came out on Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift and Steam on 17 June 2021.[4] In May 2026 Impulse Gear announced that the game's online servers would be shut down on 1 October 2026.[5][6]

Reviewed 13 October 2026. Founding, founders, Farpoint and Aim controller history, Farpoint DLC, rendering article, Larcenauts dates and modes, reviews and the 2026 server-shutdown announcement checked against every cited source. About review dates.

History

Founding

Impulse Gear was established in late 2013, about six months before Sony revealed the headset that became PlayStation VR.[2] Seth Luisi had spent 18 years at Sony, where he oversaw the SOCOM series at Zipper Interactive and Slant Six Games and worked on the PlayStation 3 shooter MAG.[2] A 2022 Augmented World Expo speaker profile describes him as a former game director and director of development at Sony and as the creator of the SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs franchise.[7] Greg Koreman, the other co-founder, was credited as founder and CTO on a 2018 technical article on the studio's website.[8]

Announcing Farpoint in June 2016, Luisi described Impulse Gear as "a small independent developer based in downtown San Francisco" and said it had been founded "to create virtual reality games that would live up to the expectations of you, the gamer."[3] The studio's website says its core team came from EA, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Ubisoft and 2K.[1]

Farpoint and the Aim controller (2016-2017)

Luisi told UploadVR that VR games of the time were played with standard gamepads and that the founders felt a tracked controller was needed. According to Koreman, the studio's early gun prototype was made of modelling clay and elastic bands, with PlayStation Move controllers attached for motion tracking; in demonstrations it ran through a PlayStation 3 sending data to a PC driving an Oculus Rift development kit.[2] According to UploadVR, the studio talked to several possible partners, but Luisi's ties to Sony gave that company an advantage, and Sony already had a precedent in Move-based add-ons such as the Sharp Shooter.[2] Luisi wrote at the reveal that Impulse Gear "worked closely with SIE to develop an entirely new way to play games with the PS VR Aim Controller."[3] Farpoint and the controller were announced together on 13 June 2016, at E3 2016.[3][2]

Farpoint was released on 16 May 2017, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. In its review, Road to VR gave it 8.2 and called it "exciting proof that a more 'traditional' FPS can work in VR".[9] The game was one of five nominees for Best VR/AR Game at The Game Awards 2017, an award won by Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.[10]

The studio supported Farpoint after launch. The Cryo Pack, released on 27 June 2017, added two co-op maps, a Challenge mode for all six co-op levels, a player skin and new Trophies.[11] The free Versus Expansion Pack of 5 December 2017 added two player-versus-player modes, Deathmatch and Uplink, on three new maps, along with 15 weapons and three skins unlocked through player and weapon XP.[12]

In March 2018 senior programmer Victor Ceitelis and Koreman published a description of Farpoint's rendering. The game ran on a modified Unreal Engine 4 and had to output a frame every 16.6 ms (60 frames per second) to pass Sony's technical requirements. The team replaced Epic's deferred renderer with Oculus's clustered forward renderer for Unreal Engine 4, which it found faster for its workloads.[8]

Larcenauts (2018-2022)

In April 2018 Impulse Gear advertised four positions, two artists, a senior game designer and a senior gameplay programmer, for an unannounced project. Its recruitment message said the team was "redefining what a AAA VR game can be".[13] The studio then went quiet until a December 2020 blog post, its first in more than two and a half years, which said it was "building something special". UploadVR reported that the team had grown and moved into a new office before the COVID-19 pandemic, then switched to remote work.[14] In March 2021 the studio said on its blog that a new VR game would be released that year.[15]

The game, Larcenauts, was announced on 5 May 2021. It is a 6v6 multiplayer shooter with eight playable characters called Specialists, each with its own weapons, a Quick Skill and a Deployed Item. Its modes were Refuel (territory control), Dronehack (similar to capture the flag) and team Deathmatch, and it supported cross-buy and cross-play.[16][17] UploadVR made it the month's Upload Access title and noted that it was very different from the story-driven, single-player Farpoint.[18] Koreman told UploadVR that month that the studio had nothing to announce about a Farpoint follow-up, adding: "When we're looking at how to move forward with Impulse Gear, we have a lot to explore in the shooter space as a whole."[2]

Larcenauts launched on 17 June 2021, a little ahead of its announced summer window.[19] Road to VR's review, played on Quest 2, gave it 7 out of 10 and described "a technically well made game with strong art direction, great performance", but said it was "missing an immersive hook due to minimal VR-specific interactions."[4] A separate Larcenauts Spectator Mode application was released on Steam on 17 November 2022.[20] The game's last update, version 1.4.3, came out in November 2022.[6]

Larcenauts shutdown (2026)

In May 2026 Impulse Gear announced that the Larcenauts online servers would be shut down on 1 October 2026 and that the game would soon be removed from the Steam store; UploadVR reported that removal from the Meta Horizon Store was also expected.[5][6] UploadVR noted that, according to Steam Charts, the game had peaked at 42 concurrent players on Steam.[5]

Products

Title Release Platforms at launch Notes
Farpoint 16 May 2017 PlayStation VR (PlayStation 4) Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment; launch title for the PlayStation VR Aim controller[9][3]
Larcenauts 17 June 2021 Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, Steam 6v6 multiplayer shooter with cross-buy and cross-play; server shutdown announced for 1 October 2026[4][16][5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Impulse Gear". Impulse Gear. https://www.impulsegear.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Jamie Feltham (2021-05-25). "Making Aim - Impulse Gear On Making PSVR's Best Controller". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/psvr-aim-controller-making-of/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Seth Luisi (2016-06-13). "Farpoint Announced for PlayStation VR". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2016/06/13/farpoint-announced-for-playstation-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ben Lang (2021-06-19). "'Larcenauts' Review - The Hero Shooter Comes to VR, Sort of". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/larcenauts-review-vr-hero-shooter/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Mike Johnson (2026-05-26). "Multiplayer VR Hero Shooter Larcenauts Shutting Down In October". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/vr-hero-shooter-larcenauts-shutting-down-in-october/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Hero Shooter About Robber Gangs Removed from Steam". iXBT.games. 2026-05-23. https://ixbt.games/en/news/2026/05/23/iz-steam-udaliaiut-geroiskii-suter-pro-bandy-grabitelei.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  7. ↑ "Seth Luisi - AWE USA 2022 speaker". AWE USA 2022. Augmented World Expo. https://www.awexr.com/usa-2022/speakers/3649. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Victor Ceitelis, Greg Koreman (2018-03-15). "A Look Inside Farpoint's Rendering Techniques for VR". Impulse Gear. https://www.impulsegear.com/a-look-inside-farpoints-rendering-techniques-for-vr. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ben Lang (2017-05-16). "'Farpoint' & PSVR Aim Review - Exciting proof that a 'traditional' FPS can work in VR". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/farpoint-psvr-aim-controller-review/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  10. ↑ Scott Hayden (2017-12-08). "'Resident Evil 7: Biohazard' Nabs 'Best VR/AR Game' at The Game Awards 2017". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/resident-evil-7-biohazard-nabs-best-vrar-game-game-awards-2017/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  11. ↑ Seth Luisi (2017-06-12). "Farpoint "Cryo Pack" DLC Out June 27". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2017/06/12/farpoint-cryo-pack-dlc-out-june-27/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  12. ↑ Seth Luisi (2017-12-05). "Farpoint for PS VR: Versus Expansion Pack Releases Today". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2017/12/05/farpoint-for-ps-vr-versus-expansion-pack-releases-today/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  13. ↑ Jamie Feltham (2018-04-06). "Farpoint Dev Is Hiring To 'Redefine AAA VR Gaming' With Next Project". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/farpoint-dev-hiring-redefine-aaa-vr-gaming/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  14. ↑ Jamie Feltham (2020-12-01). "Farpoint Developer Working On 'Something Special' After Two-Year Silence". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/farpoint-developer-still-alive. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  15. ↑ Ben Lang (2021-03-02). "'Farpoint' Studio Impulse Gear Announces a New VR Game Coming This Year". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/farpoint-studio-impulse-gear-new-vr-game-teaser/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Introducing 'Larcenauts,' a Fast-Paced Multiplayer Shooter from Impulse Gear". Meta Quest Blog. Meta Platforms. 2021-05-05. https://www.meta.com/blog/introducing-larcenauts-a-fast-paced-multiplayer-shooter-from-impulse-gear/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  17. ↑ Scott Hayden (2021-05-05). "'Farpoint' Studio Announces Hero Shooter 'Larcenauts' for Quest & PC VR, Trailer Here". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/larcenauts-trailer-quest-2-steam-vr-shooter/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  18. ↑ Jamie Feltham (2021-05-05). "Larcenauts Is The New VR Shooter From Impulse Gear - First Details On Upload Access". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/larcenauts-announced/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  19. ↑ Harry Baker (2021-06-15). "Larcenauts Releases Tomorrow For Oculus Quest, PC VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/larcenauts-releases-tomorrow-oculus-quest-pc-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  20. ↑ "Larcenauts Spectator Mode on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2162380/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
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