Island Paradise: ‘Tropico’ Launches on Meta Quest VR Today

The Caribbean is calling! The long-running Tropico series comes to VR today, and with it the chance to slip into El Presidente’s (slightly despotic) shoes like never before.

Take control of your own island paradise in this full-fledged made-for-VR port of Tropico 4, courtesy of Feral Interactive. Transform untouched wilderness into must-see tourist destinations and industrial powerhouses, building up from dirt roads and small farms into gorgeous resort cities across 40 campaign missions. (Or take your skills to Sandbox Mode if you’re feeling creative.)

But remember, you reign at the whims of the people. Keep your citizens happy, lest you find them storming the gates of the Palace and bringing your dreams to a swift end.

We sat down with Hannah Lewis, Lead Designer at Feral Interactive, to discuss bringing the storied Tropico series to life in VR, how porting differs (and doesn’t) from platform to platform, and more. Read on for more details, or head to the Meta Quest Store if you’re ready to take hold of the levers of power.

Hannah Lewis: When we were considering our first VR title, Tropico felt like a great choice. We are big fans of the series and have a long-standing relationship with Kalypso Media (the original publishers), having previously brought other Tropico games over to macOS and mobile.

And of course, city building is really satisfying in VR. It feels great to build a world and then survey it from on-high, fine-tune your roads and infrastructure as your city grows, and get in close to see your happy (and not-so-happy!) citizens going about their business.

On top of that, Tropico’s further layers of economy management and political simulation, delivered with the series’ tongue-in-cheek humor, give it a unique appeal. It’s a nice fit for our first VR title, and we hope that Meta Quest owners are ready to completely immerse themselves in the role of El Presidente!

HL: We’ve been porting AAA games to new platforms for close to three decades, so you might say we know a thing or two by now!

First off, yes, this is a complete Tropico experience. It’s based on Tropico 4 for desktop and console, and includes all of its base game content and DLC. Between 40 unique missions, tons of buildings and political edicts, and the endlessly replayable Sandbox mode—that’s a lot of El Prez for your pesos!

VR does come with challenges that we had not faced before—namely, locomotion and camera movement. It’s no secret that motion sickness can be an issue for some VR users, which is why we added several options to suit all preferences, experimenting with each to make sure they were as comfortable as possible.

Other than that, while mobile and VR appear to be very different platforms, the fundamental design challenges are similar. When porting a game our approach is always “How do we make this feel native to the platform?” and Tropico is no different. We thought carefully about VR’s unique qualities and demands, and how we could tailor the game experience accordingly.

HL: Two big things were updating the in-game artwork to better fit the platform, and a major overhaul of the UI to make sure that all Tropico’s core tools and key information are easily accessible at all times. (And as mentioned, we also added a multitude of configurations for locomotion controls to suit as wide a range of players as possible.)

Our Design, Development, and QA teams worked closely with one another, with each department providing plenty of feedback. Following an iterative process that is detailed and thorough has helped ensure we have enough options to provide an experience that suits players’ individual preferences.

HL: It’s hard to look past the way that everything feels so much more immersive in VR. The Tropico games have always given players that sense of omnipotence, and having complete control over the world is all part of the appeal—but you’re still looking at that world through a limited window.

That restriction disappears in VR, as you are a part of the world rather than peering in from outside, and it has a massive impact on how the game feels. The sense of planning and building from on-high, then surveying the citizens at ground level—it all feeds into a feeling of god-like power that El Presidente would be proud of!

HL: We always have a couple of irons in the fire—unfortunately we are not at liberty to reveal any of them just now! All we can say is that, with a fair wind, there will be further exciting announcements on the horizon.

HL: Our team are big fans of VR, so it's been really satisfying to bring a well-loved and more in-depth city builder game to an exciting new platform. It was definitely a challenge, but a welcome one and a massive learning experience for all involved.

We are excited to get the game into people’s hands, and looking forward to seeing a slew of flourishing banana republics!

Want to escape to the Caribbean this weekend? Tropico is available now in the Meta Quest Store.