Reach

Reach
Information
VR/AR	Virtual Reality
Developer	nDreams Elevation
Publisher	nDreams
Platform	SteamVR, Meta Quest, PlayStation VR2
Device	Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 3S, Meta Quest 2, Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S, HTC Vive, Valve Index, PlayStation VR2
Operating System	Windows, PlayStation 5
Type	Game
Genre	Action-adventure
Input Device	Tracked motion controllers
Play Area	Standing, seated
Game Mode	Single-player
Comfort Level	Intense (artificial stick locomotion only, no teleport; adjustable comfort vignettes)
Language	English, French, German, Spanish (Spain & Latin America), Japanese, Korean
Release Date	October 16, 2025
Price	US $39.99 (Standard)
App Store	Steam, Meta Quest Store, PlayStation Store
Website	https://ndreams.com/games/reach/

See also: VR Apps and VR Games

Reach is a single-player virtual reality action-adventure game developed by nDreams Elevation and published by nDreams. It was released on October 16, 2025 for Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S, PC VR via Steam, and PlayStation VR2. The game is built around physical traversal: players run, jump, climb, and grapple across a fractured world while fighting with a bow and a throwable shield.

Reach is the debut solo title from nDreams Elevation, a studio nDreams launched in January 2022 to make larger VR-first action games. At the Road to VR 2025 Game of the Year Awards it won the Design Award for Locomotion for its movement system.

Gameplay

Reach is played from a first-person perspective and uses smooth, artificial stick-based locomotion; there is no teleport option. Much of the traversal is gesture-driven. Jumping combines a face-button press with an upward swing of the arms in a mimicry of a real jump, rather than a simple button tap, and climbing is done by physically grabbing walls and ledges with full-body avatar arms. The player character has a throwable shield that can be stuck into bespoke slots in the environment to create handholds and platforms for crossing gaps, and a grappling drone that pulls the player across marked overhangs for long leaps.

Combat is built around a two-handed bow with multiple arrow types, some crafted from items found in the world. The shield can be thrown to ricochet around corners, and players can pick up one-use found weapons such as pistols, shotguns, and grenades. Encounters are arena-style fights against robotic, armored enemies called Living Statues, set between stretches of exploration and platforming.

The game opens with a tutorial in which the protagonist is presented as a movie stunt performer, a framing the review at Road to VR described as a bait-and-switch before the player is pulled into a fractured magical realm. nDreams describes the setting as "a perilous world of crossed realities" and the player as a reluctant hero with extraordinary abilities.

Development

Reach was made by nDreams Elevation, a development studio that nDreams launched in January 2022 to build more ambitious VR-first action games, headed by Glenn Brace. Elevation operates on a mixed remote and in-house basis and grew to around 120 staff. nDreams, founded in 2006 and focused entirely on VR since 2013, had previously released titles including Phantom: Covert Ops (2020), Fracked (2021), and the PlayStation VR2 shooter Synapse (2023). Reach is Elevation's first standalone release.

The studio described its design pillars as "true-to-life full-body awareness," tactile interactions driven by physics, and gesture-based traversal. Glenn Brace, head of nDreams Elevation, said when the release date was announced that "the response from early previews has been incredible, and we can't wait for players to experience firsthand the depth and VR-first innovation we've built into every aspect of the game."

In March 2026, nDreams announced a restructuring of the company amid what it called a "challenging" VR games market, closing its Near Light and Compass studios and putting 78 roles at risk. nDreams Elevation was retained as the core of the restructured business, alongside a small XR research and development group.

Release

nDreams revealed the October 16, 2025 release date on August 20, 2025, with pre-orders opening on the Meta Horizon Store and PlayStation Store and a wishlist on Steam. Pre-orders included a Ferran cosmetic set with an outfit, an ornate bow, a shield, gauntlets, and a drone. The game shipped in Standard and Deluxe editions.

Platform	Headsets	Release date	Price (Standard)
Steam (PC VR)	Quest via Link, Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift / Rift S	October 16, 2025	US $39.99
Meta Quest Store	Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 3S, Meta Quest 2	October 16, 2025	US $39.99
PlayStation Store	PlayStation VR2	October 16, 2025	US $39.99

Reception

Reach received generally favorable reviews. On Metacritic the PlayStation 5 version holds a metascore of 76 ("generally favorable") from seven critic reviews.

UploadVR scored Reach 4.5 out of 5, calling it "an unapologetically high-intensity action game, using as few flatscreen-inspired elements as possible to create a highly immersive, refreshingly high-budget game," and estimated the campaign at roughly nine hours. Road to VR rated it 7 out of 10, praising the movement and climbing but criticizing pacing and some design choices, and gave it a comfort rating of 5 out of 10 while noting that rotating-platform puzzles and forced smooth rotation during climbing could cause motion sickness; it put the playthrough at about seven hours. Push Square also scored the PSVR2 version 7 out of 10, writing that "for those who appreciate a great movement system in a VR game, Reach is worth checking out for that alone," while calling the story "a dull story and even duller world" and reporting several crashes. PlayStation Universe rated the PSVR2 release 7.5 out of 10, describing it as "one of the most immersive experiences on PSVR 2," though it felt the narrative never quite reached the heights of nDreams' earlier Synapse. Push Square similarly wrote that the combat did not "hit like Synapse's gameplay."

At the Road to VR 2025 Game of the Year Awards, Reach won the Design Award for Locomotion. Road to VR wrote that the game "is built atop a foundation of fun movement that makes the game fast-paced and fun, while also remaining quite comfortable," citing its arm-swing jumping, throwable shield handholds, arrow-based climbing surfaces, and grappling system.