Throttle Up with ‘VRider SBK,’ The World’s First Licensed Superbike VR Game, Out Now on Quest

Start your engines and get ready to throttle up to speeds of over 200 mph with today’s launch of the first officially licensed World Superbike Championship VR racing game, VRider SBK, from developer Funny Tales and publisher VRAL Games. VRider SBK brings the white-knuckle speeds and pulse-pounding intensity of superbike racing to the immersive realm in an accessible, but still authentic, game for anyone to enjoy.

With a variety of racing modes including time trials, tournament races, and even online matches against other players around the world, there are plenty of ways to catch your thrills in VRider SBK. To learn more about the game and its development, we spoke with Funny Tales CEO Giovanni Bazzoni, VRider Game Director Daniele La Norcia, and VRAL Games CEO Rodolfo Saccoman.

Giovanni Bazzoni: If you’re craving the adrenaline rush of riding a bike from a legendary brand then look no further than VRider! VRider lets you truly become one with the machine – twist the throttle with your wrist, lean into corners with your upper body and arms, and tuck behind the windshield to reduce drag and get a speed boost. You can also do the opposite and stand up and use your body to your advantage and increase drag when braking for a turn.

Buckle up, because our pursuit of realism and immersion doesn’t end here, your visor gets dirty over time, especially if you take a little tumble off the track (hey, it happens to the best of us!) so make sure to use the tear-offs when needed! Last but not least get ready to feel the roar of engines with the 3D spatial sound.

VRider isn't just about a solo ride; jump into a variety of single-player and multiplayer modes. Challenge some AI opponents, chase the ghosts of other players in a global leaderboard, or go head-to-head in full championships against your buddies. An online real-time multiplayer with up to 6 riders allows you to challenge worldwide real players. The game takes you from rookie to pro in a way that'll have you glued to your headset. Plus, the graphics are so mind-blowing, that they'll push your Quest to its absolute limits.

GB: The foundation of any racing game is its physics model, essentially a virtual blueprint for your bike and its control system. In this intricate context, we must simulate everything from the bike's rigid body with its springs and dampers to tire grip and engine performance, including torque, power, gear ratios, and transmission. All these elements must be meticulously modeled and should operate at a smooth frame rate. Even a slight dip in performance can throw off the handling, forcing the player to compensate and potentially lose control or just feel a bit off. This is all made harder considering the additional challenges of real-time multiplayer, requiring a robust network infrastructure to ensure smooth gameplay.

However, given the amount of experience available within our team, we have been able to reach what we feel is the perfect balance between simulation and gameplay enjoyment, allowing all players to feel like they are pushing the limits of the bike and also their own.

VRider also raises the bar even further with its photorealistic graphics style. This visual fidelity adds another layer of complexity, demanding even more from the development team. Achieving the results we can all see on Quest 2 and 3 was no easy feat, but we feel like we have allowed players to appreciate high-quality graphics at breaknecking speeds on this platform. On top of that, we strived to develop a game that would be incredibly immersive without sacrificing playability and comfort level. The game was developed with this mission in mind.

While the core gameplay of a regular racing game might seem basic, the technology behind it is anything but. Building a realistic and immersive experience is a significant undertaking for any development team. VRider stands as a testament to that complexity, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in VR racing on standalone headsets.

Daniele La Norcia: Yes, the VRider prototype’s focus was on truly allowing the players to feel like they were real-life world-class riders and racers. To achieve this we had to be as close as possible to the real thing and we wanted VRider to be a whole-body experience and to provide the players with a unique native control system, so we worked really hard to make sure that players could twist a virtual throttle, tuck down beneath the cockpit to reduce drag resistance on the main straights or stand up to increase it while grabbing a handful of brake before turning and leaning into a corner.

This was our starting point, once we nailed that feeling, we worked towards allowing players who perhaps are more accustomed to traditional console racing games, to also have trigger options for throttle control and additional customizable settings both in terms of input methods and sensitivity options.

We believe in gaming optionality and that includes all of our control systems. That's why VRider offers a mixed control scheme including where you can also brake with the left trigger and accelerate with a twist gesture. Ultimately, the choice is yours!

GB: Players can experience the intensity of superbike racing on 12 faithfully reproduced global tracks from the official World Superbike Championship. In addition, you can choose from a selection of 5 highly detailed superbike models from leading brands like Ducati, BMW, Kawasaki, Honda, and Yamaha, each bike boasts unique attributes such as speed, torque, suspension, braking, and tire grip, challenging players to master their strengths and weaknesses. One fascinating fact is that all the superbikes in WSBK are specially tuned bikes you can buy in stores, which elevates the sense of realism and accessibility of racing on VRider! Finally, you can embody any of the 23 official riders from the championship in a quest for racing greatness.

GB: As mentioned above, the game was developed with the idea to provide players with the most comfortable yet fully immersive experience possible straight out of the box. We feel like we have achieved incredible results in this regard, especially considering the fast-paced nature of our game.

Motion Wellness is an extra tool that can help users quickly identify those settings that have an impact on comfort levels and enable them with the flick of a button, truly making it a racing game designed for all players.

GB: While it’s possibly true that VRider SBK can feel a little bit intimidating at first glance, we have worked very hard to make sure that the players have all the tools at their disposal to learn the ropes of the game, get up to speed, and become more and more competitive lap after lap.

Enhanced tutorials streamline learning, visual and riding aids such as ideal trajectory, braking indicators, braking assist, and traction control can be enabled as part of Rider profile settings that range from rookie to pro, or they can be switched on or off individually to the player’s taste. This was fundamental to our game design, as we believe that racing is for everyone and we want players, at all skill levels, to feel like they are really pushing their own limits every time they’re on track. The goal was to translate all of this into gameplay to unlock the novice experience while supercharging the hardcore VR racing fans, and we won’t stop here, we’ll keep working on making sure as many players as possible can feel like they can race on the edge!

Rodolfo Saccoman: We would love for you to join our vibrant VRider racing community on Discord and you can also find us on the game’s official website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Reddit for the latest updates, competitions, and exclusive content. You can visit us at Funny Tales Gaming and the publisher at VRAL Games.