35 games launch with Omni One VR treadmill, more than a decade after we first saw it

Hands up who remembers Palmer Luckey? The Hawaiian-shirted entrepreneur and founder of Oculus VR who once made a VR headset that would literally kill you if you died in a game was the poster boy of the early re-arrival of VR around 2013.

Luckey launched the Oculus Rift after a successful spell of selling Oculus Dev kits to people like me who were early adopters of the tech and wanted in at stage one.

As the Rift came out companies sprang up with VR gear to enhance your virtual reality experience. Back in the day, all those years ago I remember a company called Virtuix announcing on Kickstarter the Omni. A VR treadmill that allowed you to walk 360 degrees in any direction inside your VR game without crashing into the couch or knocking the houseplants over.

Now, in 2024 it is ready to ship within the next few months and has today announced a 35-title game library that will be playable at launch. Time flies when you are having fun.

Omni One’s launch lineup includes top VR games like Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, Hubris, and Breachers. Each game has been adapted for movement on Omni One through close collaboration with the game’s developers.

Virtuix CEO Jan Goetgeluk expressed his excitement about Omni One’s upcoming launch, stating, “The high caliber of our launch games showcases how Omni One will take virtual reality to the next level. We are proud to partner with so many award-winning studios and offer our users an exceptional selection of games that will redefine their gaming experiences.”

So what is the Omni One?

Well, what it is is definitely something that my wife is not going to let me have in the corner of our lounge that’s what. The 360-degree treadmill allows you to travel more naturally in your VR games, not having to rely on hacky teleporting mechanisms or movement systems that can add to VR sickness.

The unit costs $2,595 and comes with its own PICO VR headset. It can be used with existing VR hear you have, although, here’s the kicker, not the Meta Quest, probably the world’s best-selling VR headset right now – at least in its unlinked format. There is no option to purchase the Omni without the headset, which is a shame, but Virtuix wants to make the experience as seamless as possible for users who are laying out such a large amount of cash.

Pre-orders for the unit will be fulfilled during Q2 with the Omni One finally making general release by the end of Q2, marking the conclusion of a remarkable journey to market.