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Into the Radius 2

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Into the Radius 2
Information
VR/AR Virtual Reality
Developer CM Games (2023-2025), CM Immersive (from August 2025)
Publisher CM Immersive
Platform SteamVR, Meta Quest, PlayStation VR2
Device PC VR headsets via OpenXR, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 3S, PlayStation VR2
Operating System Windows, Meta Horizon OS, PlayStation 5
Type Game
Genre Survival, Shooter, Action, Indie
Input Device Tracked motion controllers
Play Area Standing, Seated
Game Mode Single-player, Co-op, Online multiplayer
Release Date Steam Early Access: July 24, 2024; Quest 3 Early Access: May 21, 2025; Steam 1.0: April 23, 2026; Quest 1.0: August 27, 2026; PlayStation VR2: October 8, 2026 (scheduled)
Price US $39.99 (Steam and Meta Horizon Store)
App Store Steam, Meta Quest Store, PlayStation Store
Website https://www.cm-immersive.com/itr2
See also: VR Apps and VR Games

Into the Radius 2 is a virtual reality survival shooter developed by the Estonian studio CM Games and, since August 2025, by CM Immersive, the independent studio formed from the game's team. It is the sequel to Into the Radius (2020) and returns to the Pechorsk Security Zone, a fictional exclusion area filled with anomalies and hostile entities, where the player scavenges, completes missions for the UNPSC organization and maintains a set of manually operated firearms. Unlike its single-player predecessor, the sequel can be played alone or in online co-op.[1][2]

The game entered Steam Early Access for PC VR headsets on July 24, 2024 at US $39.99, with two-player co-op in beta.[1][3] An early access version for Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S followed on May 21, 2025.[4] Version 1.0, which added a complete voiced story campaign, left early access on Steam on April 23, 2026 and on Quest on August 27, 2026.[2][5][6] A PlayStation VR2 version was announced for September 24, 2026 and then pushed back to October 8, 2026 after issues surfaced during Sony's certification.[7][6]

By January 2025 the early access release had generated nearly US $3 million in revenue on Steam, and as of September 2026 the Steam version holds a "Mostly Positive" user rating.[8][9]

Reviewed 20 September 2026. Release dates, platforms, pricing, update contents, studio history, review ratings and every citation. About review dates.

Gameplay

Into the Radius 2 keeps the structure of the first game: the player, an explorer working for the UNPSC, takes missions from a base facility, travels into the Radius to recover items or complete tasks, and returns to sell loot and buy gear. Progression unlocks better weapons and equipment for longer expeditions.[10][2] The 1.0 release has ten story missions, nine secondary mission types (178 secondary missions in total) and five access levels to unlock, spread across three main locations and two sub-locations that are connected by passages with their own gameplay.[2][11]

Firearms are handled manually with tracked motion controllers and degrade with use. The modular weapon system introduced in the 0.14.0 update (November 2025) lets most rifles, shotguns and submachine guns be rebuilt at a vise with alternative barrels, handguards, dust covers, pistol grips and stocks; at that update's launch the system had 156 modules and 30 gun frames. Cleaning is done per part, and pistols and some legacy weapons stay non-modular.[12] The same update added "mag palming", which lets the player hold two magazines in one hand to swap them directly.[12] At version 1.0 the game listed 25 types of firearms (53 guns in total), a durability and maintenance system, a hunger (stamina) and food system, artifacts, difficulty settings and an Iron Man mode.[2] Chest rigs, armor vests and backpacks can be reconfigured pouch by pouch, and the player's total loadout is limited by "Loadout Points" that combine weight, size and ease of use; heavier setups slow movement.[13] Weapons, rigs, backpacks and the explorer uniform can be recolored with spray cans and camouflage stencils.[2][11]

The Radius contains nine anomaly types at 1.0, including ones that burst into shrapnel, release electric discharges, suppress light sources, or attach to the player and explode, plus distortion zones that require anti-distortion equipment.[2][11] The 1.0 release notes list three enemy families, Fragments, Mimics and Creeps, in 12 variants; the PlayStation Blog announcement also names Phantoms.[2][7] Night expeditions use four types of night vision device and a signal flare that lights an area when it lands.[11] A shooting range and a "Kill House" at the Supply Depot, added in the 1.1 update, let players test weapons before buying them.[14]

Co-op

Co-op is new to the series. The Steam early access launch supported two players in a beta co-op mode, with four-player sessions promised for later; CM Games listed "a stable co-op mode with fully functional radios" among the features still unfinished at launch.[1][15] Co-op sessions use proximity voice chat.[2] Update 1.1 ("Co-op & Range Update", June 19, 2026) raised the PC limit to four players, added a walkie-talkie for team communication, and noted that difficulty does not scale with party size.[14] On Quest, co-op remains limited to two players; Road to VR reported that the developer attributed the lower cap to technical constraints.[5] Cross-play between the PC VR and Quest versions is not planned, according to the developer.[16] The PlayStation VR2 version launches single-player only, with a free two-player co-op update planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.[7]

Development

CM Games, a studio founded in 2010 and based in Tallinn, Estonia, said in a community update reported by Road to VR on May 8, 2023 that a "second chapter" of Into the Radius was in pre-production and would "follow an Early Access development model like before when the time is right."[17][18] Road to VR first reported the sequel's Steam Early Access plans in December 2023; by April 2024 the studio had set a summer 2024 window at US $39.99, with a full release then planned for late 2025.[19][20] In a May 2024 interview with MIXED, the team was described as about 25 developers, and the game had passed 100,000 Steam wishlists.[21] By September 2024 more than 30 people across a dozen countries were working on the game, and senior game designer Anton Subbota ran weekly guided VR tours of the build so that team members could see each other's work in the headset.[22]

Early access on Steam

The early access build released on July 24, 2024 contained a tutorial location, the explorer base and one large Radius location, with 13 weapons (several with variants), six chest rig types and seven priority missions according to CM Games; MIXED counted 14 weapons in its launch report.[15][1][3] CM Games warned at launch that "even the full release version of ITR2 cannot contain as much functionality and content as ITR1 currently has", and listed story episodes, weapon wear and repair, hunger, armor, new enemy types and difficulty settings as not yet included.[1] The game entered Steam's top 20 releases for July 2024 despite being VR-only.[22] Road to VR reported that it sold 40,000 copies in its first week for about US $1.6 million, and by late January 2025 revenue was close to US $3 million.[23] CM Games CEO Vlad Rannik told UploadVR that "we took a gamble with a game that wasn't complete" and that the studio was "absolutely looking at getting Into The Radius 2 to all major platforms"; he explained the Steam-first approach by saying the team could "focus on the gameplay and not necessarily Quest-specific optimizations."[8][23]

Six major updates shipped during early access, each preceded by beta testing.[11] Update 0.13.0 "Ghost Town" (April 24, 2025) added a new location, customizable rigs and backpacks, and improved physical crouching and body calibration.[13] Update 0.14.0 (November 6, 2025) introduced the modular weapon system and a launcher choice between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12, which the studio added because DX12 had caused frequent crashes for VR players.[12]

On August 19, 2025 the team announced that CM Games had "split into several independent studios" and that the Into the Radius team was now CM Immersive (CMI), an independent studio that owns the Into the Radius IP and is credited as developer going forward; the CM Games logo stays on previously published material. The same post published official modding guidelines, under which mods for the series must be distributed free.[24] The Steam store page now lists CM Immersive as both developer and publisher.[9]

Version 1.0 and story changes

CM Immersive announced on April 1, 2026 that the SteamVR version would leave early access on April 23, 2026, with the price unchanged; the Quest version was to stay in early access for the time being.[25] Four 1.0 betas preceded the release. During the first beta, players criticized the presentation of the new story characters, the guide Lauri and the UNPSC supervisor Eva, as too upbeat for the game's tone. For the final release the studio cut and re-recorded their lines, reduced how often they appear, moved Eva's post-mission briefings to optional tablet messages, and delivered parts of Lauri's story through interactable white figures placed in the world.[11][2][26] The 1.0 release also added the GP-34 underbarrel grenade launcher, hand grenades, the Remington 700 and Colt 1911, a playable guitar, an optional tutorial skip, achievements and a 33% launch discount through the end of April.[2][11]

After launch the studio said it would bring the full version to Quest once the PC build was stable, would "consider" other platforms such as PlayStation VR2 without formal plans at that point, and was working on four-player co-op, mod support, localization, a shooting range and perk-based artifacts. It ruled out modular pistols.[27] Update 1.1 delivered the four-player co-op and shooting range on June 19, 2026, along with the G3 rifle, MP5 submachine gun, explorer notes scattered through the locations, and credits.[14] A paid cosmetic DLC, "Classic Explorer Kit", is sold on Steam.[9]

Quest and PlayStation VR2 versions

CM Games announced in February 2025 that the game would come to Quest 3 and Quest 3S in early access in the second quarter of 2025 at US $40, with the same features and content as the PC VR version over time.[28] The Quest early access release on May 21, 2025 lacked the Pechorsk Outskirts location and the distortion zones, and a Meta Quest 2 version was ruled out.[29][4] In MIXED's test on Quest 3, the game ran at a resolution below 2K by 2K with noticeable aliasing, at 72 FPS with Asynchronous Spacewarp enabled; the reviewer estimated about 15 hours of content at that stage.[30] The Quest 1.0 update on August 27, 2026 brought most of the content of the Steam 1.0 and 1.1 updates, including the voiced campaign, night vision devices, flares, new anomaly types and the G3, MP5 and GP-34, and carries the reworked Lauri and Eva dialogue from the Steam release; it launched with a 30% discount from the US $40 list price.[5][26]

The PlayStation VR2 version was announced on the PlayStation Blog on August 24, 2026 by game director Aleksei Shulga. It runs at a native 90 frames per second with eye-tracked foveated rendering, uses the Sense controllers' adaptive triggers for firearm resistance, headset and controller haptics for anomaly pulses and impacts, and 3D audio.[7] Road to VR reported that the launch version includes the full single-player campaign with 10 main quests, 178 side missions and five Security Levels, over 50 firearms across 25 weapon types and 12 enemy types.[31] On September 17, 2026 CM Immersive moved the release from September 24 to October 8, 2026, saying that "during the final certification stage, we identified a few things that still need attention."[6] Unlike the first game's PlayStation VR2 port of September 2024, which Fast Travel Games published, the sequel is published by CM Immersive itself; the PlayStation Store lists the publisher as CM Immersive OU.[32][33]

Release

Platform Date Status Notes
PC VR (Steam) July 24, 2024 Early Access US $39.99; two-player co-op in beta[1][3]
Meta Quest 3 / Meta Quest 3S May 21, 2025 Early Access US $39.99; no Pechorsk Outskirts or distortion zones at launch; no cross-play with PC[28][4][16]
PC VR (Steam) April 23, 2026 Version 1.0 Full story campaign; price unchanged; 33% launch discount to end of April[2]
PC VR (Steam) June 19, 2026 Update 1.1 Four-player co-op, walkie-talkie, shooting range[14]
Meta Quest 3 / Meta Quest 3S August 27, 2026 Version 1.0 Most 1.0 and 1.1 content; co-op stays at two players; 30% launch discount[5]
PlayStation VR2 October 8, 2026 (scheduled) Announced Moved from September 24, 2026; single-player at launch, two-player co-op planned for Q4 2026[7][6]

On PC the game is a VR-only title that requires an OpenXR runtime and tracked controllers. The Steam page states that HTC Vive wands and Windows Mixed Reality devices are not supported, lists 72 Hz as the minimum refresh rate and 90 Hz as recommended, and lists a minimum of an Intel Core i5-7600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060.[9]

Reception

UploadVR reviewed the Steam early access build in August 2024 without a score, in line with its policy for early access releases. It wrote that the launch version "provides a solid foundation that balances the horror and realism elements well" but was "let down by bugs and issues aplenty", including disappearing guns, telekinetic grab problems and stutter, and said the removal of hunger and varied armor from the first game reduced tension. It praised the comfort options and the graphics improvements over the original.[10][34] Game World Observer reported that the game held a "Mostly Positive" rating of 75% from 1,681 Steam reviews about six weeks after launch.[22]

As of September 20, 2026 the Steam version has a "Mostly Positive" rating with 79% of 3,894 user reviews positive, while recent reviews are rated "Mixed".[9] The Meta Horizon Store listing shows an average of 4.2 stars from about 1,700 ratings.[35] Metacritic lists only the UploadVR early access review and has not assigned a metascore.[34]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Scott Hayden (2024-07-24). "'Into the Radius 2' Releases in Early Access on PC VR Today, Including Two-Player Co-op". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/into-the-radius-2-ea-release-steam-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 "Into the Radius 2 is out of Early Access!". Steam. CM Immersive. 2026-04-23. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2307350/view/1830797770233703. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Josef Erl (2024-07-24). "Back to the Zone: Into the Radius 2 is now available on Steam". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/vr-survival-shooter-into-the-radius-2-launches-in-early-access-in-july/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Henry Stockdale (2025-05-21). "Into The Radius 2 Is Out Now In Early Access On Quest 3". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-quest-3-early-access-launch/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Scott Hayden (2026-08-18). "'Into the Radius 2' Leaves Quest Early Access Aug 27, Including Campaign & New Content". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/into-radius-2-quest-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Mike Johnson (2026-09-17). "Into The Radius 2 PlayStation VR2 Release Delayed 2 Weeks". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-delayed-on-playstation-vr2/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Aleksei Shulga (2026-08-24). "VR shooter Into the Radius 2 hits PS VR2 September 24". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2026/08/24/vr-shooter-into-the-radius-2-hits-ps-vr2-september-24/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Henry Stockdale (2025-01-24). "How Into The Radius 2 Hit Nearly $3M Revenue So Far On Steam Early Access". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-revenue-steam-early-access-interview/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 "Into the Radius 2 on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2307350/Into_the_Radius_2/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Callum Self (2024-08-09). "Into the Radius 2 Early Access Review: Barebones Survival". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-review/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 "Dev Diary // Steam Early Access Wrap-Up and Next Steps". Steam. CM Immersive. 2026-04-17. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2307350/view/1830163047261421. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 "UPDATE 0.14.0. WEAPON CUSTOMIZATION". Steam. CM Immersive. 2025-11-06. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2307350/view/1815580768262437. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  13. 13.0 13.1 "UPDATE 0.13.0 GHOST TOWN". Steam. CM Games. 2025-04-24. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2307350/view/1797820624465601. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Co-op & Range Update is out now!". Steam. CM Immersive. 2026-06-19. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2307350/view/1835871199307488. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  15. 15.0 15.1 "ITR Early Access Date". CM Games. 2024-07-10. https://cm.games/stories/itr-early-access-date. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Scott Hayden (2025-05-08). "'Into the Radius 2' is Coming to Quest 3 in Early Access This Month". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/quest-3-into-the-radius-2-early-access-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  17. "CM Games". CM Games. https://cm.games/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  18. Scott Hayden (2023-05-08). "One of VR's Most Hardcore Apocalyptic Survival Games is Getting a Sequel". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/into-the-radius-2-sequel-quest-steam-psvr-2/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  19. Scott Hayden (2024-04-15). "'Into the Radius 2' Coming to PC VR Headsets This Summer via Steam Early Access, Trailer Here". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/into-the-radius-2-release-steam-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  20. Henry Stockdale (2024-04-15). "Stalker-Inspired VR Shooter Into The Radius 2 Hits Steam Early Access This Summer". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-trailer-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  21. Tomislav Bezmalinovic (2024-05-01). "Into The Radius: How the survival shooter became one of VR's biggest hits". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/into-the-radius-interview/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Evgeny Obedkov (2024-09-06). "How CM Games made game development more immersive with guided tours inside its VR shooter Into the Radius 2". Game World Observer. https://gameworldobserver.com/2024/09/06/immersive-vr-game-development-into-the-radius-2-cm-games. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  23. 23.0 23.1 Scott Hayden (2025-01-30). "Early Access PC VR Shooter 'Into the Radius 2' Has Already Generated Nearly $3M in Revenue". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/into-the-radius-2-pc-vr-3m-revenue/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  24. "Introducing CMI + Modding Guidelines". Steam. CM Immersive. 2025-08-19. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2307350/view/1808061939506054. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  25. Mike Johnson (2026-04-01). "Into The Radius 2 Exits Early Access Later This Month". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-exits-early-access-later-this-month/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  26. 26.0 26.1 Mike Johnson (2026-08-18). "Into The Radius 2 Exits Early Access On Quest 3 Later This Month". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-exits-early-access-on-quest-3-later-this-month/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  27. Mike Johnson (2026-04-24). "Into The Radius 2 Exits Early Access On PC & Looks To The Future". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-exits-early-access-on-pc-looks-to-the-future/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  28. 28.0 28.1 Scott Hayden (2025-02-17). "Indie VR Hit Sequel 'Into the Radius 2' is Headed to Quest 3 in Early Access". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/into-the-radius-2-quest-3-early-access-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  29. Henry Stockdale (2025-05-07). "Into The Radius 2 Confirms Early Access Release Date On Quest 3". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-2-quest-3-early-access-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  30. Tomislav Bezmalinovic (2025-05-22). "Into the Radius 2 has launched into Early Access on Quest 3 - How does it run?". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/into-the-radius-2-has-launched-into-early-access-on-quest-3-how-does-it-run/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  31. Scott Hayden (2026-08-26). "Survival Shooter 'Into the Radius 2' Comes to PSVR 2 Next Month". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/vr-shooter-into-radius-2-psvr-2-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  32. Jason Coles (2024-09-19). "Into The Radius Heads For PlayStation VR2 Today". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/into-the-radius-psvr-2-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  33. "Into the Radius 2". PlayStation Store. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10019955/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  34. 34.0 34.1 "Into the Radius 2 Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/into-the-radius-2/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  35. "Into The Radius 2 on Meta Quest". Meta Horizon Store. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/experiences/into-the-radius-2/6605328856182465/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.