Medal of Honor has long been a FPS franchise in need of a revival, and the good news is that that revival is just a few months away, thanks to Respawn Entertainment’s VR-exclusive Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Fans have known that the game would launch this holiday season, but this week Facebook and Oculus were finally able to set an exact release date: December 11.
The news was made during Facebook’s Connect conference alongside major VR-related announcements like the Oculus Quest 2. This follows up on the glimpses of Above and Beyond that EA and Respawn have given out this summer, which have teased a rather robust-looking narratively-driven World War 2 shooter built around a variety of VR experiences. Naturally, these will also include a large number of shootouts with different weapons from the era.
Interestingly, the release date wasn’t the only news Facebook and Oculus had to reveal. All this time, it was assumed Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond would be exclusive to Oculus Rift headsets, but Facebook executive producer Mike Doran confirmed on Reddit that the game will also be available on Steam as well. Better yet, he said that Steam users won’t ever be required to create Facebook accounts to play the game.
In addition to the main single-player campaign, Above and Beyond will also feature a multiplayer component, and while EA and Respawn haven’t really discussed it yet, Doran confirmed that it will support cross-play between Oculus and SteamVR headsets. There will be a few restrictions, he said, as a lack of a Facebook account requirement on PC means PC players won’t be able to send direct invites to Rift players, but they will be able to find one another in public matchmaking.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond will launch on December 11 for Oculus Rift and PC.