The war wages on in BigBox VR’s Population: One as players from around the globe join the battle that has intensified since the introduction of private lobbies, new weapons, additional skins, and some very cool adjustments to the map. On April 16, players from Solaris and Hyper Dash will jump in on the action to establish the supremacy of their chosen game and skills on a level playing field in the near future world of Population: One.

VR’s premier battle royale game captured over $10 million in sales within three months after its October 2020 launch and the developers have kept pace with the rapid growth of the playerbase, adding new employees for customer service and community management, updating the support website, and adding new content to the game on a regular basis. Regular updates to the game combined with active engagement with the community has made Population: One a desirable experience for individual players as well as groups of friends, aspiring esports teams, sponsors, and more.

On Friday, some top players in the popular VR multiplayer shooters Solaris Offworld Combat and Hyper Dash will compete in 8-person squads in the best-of-three games to see who can claim the battle royale championship title. All these games are excellent VR first-person shooters with positive, growing communities, but each game has its own unique style.

Solaris Offworld Combat

Solaris Offworld Combat is a 4v4 action shooter from First Contact Entertainment, the studio that brought us Firewall: Zero Hour in 2018.

Solaris features a variety of weapons in maps where your objective is to coordinate with your team as you try to control the point and eliminate enemies. There’s also an active community with events, training resources, and mentors who will help you learn basics of the game.

“No matter what game you spend the majority of your time on these days, be it Gorilla Tag to Beat Saber, we all share a passion for VR,” states Dazlah, community leader and content creator for Solaris Offworld Combat Community. “From this passion many friendships, rivalries and even communities have formed. Working together you can truly achieve some remarkable results.”

“Solaris and Hyperdash both have fantastic communities and a terrific amount of talented FPS players,” he continues, “Together [Fathead and I] ironed out the details of a fun collaboration that would pit some of our respective league team members against each other on an even playing field. Population: One recently announced access to private lobbies for a limited time period, so we jumped at the chance to set up this event not only to promote the respective games and communities, but to further build strong and positive bonds with more people who share our passion for esports and VR.”

Connect with other Solaris fans, learn more about the Solaris Pro League, and find out how you can participate in future events through community social media pages.

While the game has previously been available on Oculus PC and Quest devices, a digital version for PSVR will be available later this month and then a physical release from Perp Games in June. Read more about the Solaris Offworld Combat community in this VR Fitness Insider article.

Hyper Dash VR

Triangle Factory’s Hyper Dash is a 5v5 fast-paced shooter with various single-handed weapons, which means you can have a gun in each hand, and several game modes, including Payload, Domination (3 control points), Control Point (central control point), and Death Match (each robot for themselves).

There’s a supportive community and a league that promotes the competitive spirit alongside good sportsmanship. The Dash League is currently preparing to enter Season 2 playoffs so it’s impressive that many players still find time to check out other popular titles such as Population: One.

“I personally play all three of these great titles [Solaris, Hyper Dash, Population: One],” states Fathead, a board member of the Dash League who focuses on community outreach.

“I enjoy each of them for different reasons, but one commonality is the great communities they’ve created. I’m an OG Hyper Dash player, and while I’m not in the Solaris Pro League, I do associate with many of the players and hang out in their Discord server. Recently, while Dazlah was stealing all of my resources and placing the robber on my hot spots in Settlers of Catan [a popular tabletop game now available in VR],  we realized both of our communities enjoyed also playing Population: One.”

Following some discussion and a bit of planning, they were able to coordinate with their communities, sponsors, and casters to create an event that will be fun for everyone.

“I think it’s gonna be a good fight, and it should bring eyes to both of our leagues. The event also foreshadows the inevitable Population: One league that will likely be created soon. Very excited to drop in with my friends from both communities!”

Fathead ended the interview by pointing out that he’s “even more excited to take the victory.”

Connect with the Hyper Dash community on social media to learn more about the league, meet fellow Hyper Dash enthusiasts, and sign up for Dash League Season 3, which begins in June.

Population: One

BigBox VR delivered a massive content drop on February 25 with the launch of Season One: Uprising, a 10-week-long season that has had regular updates to the weapons, maps, and other features in the VR battle royale VR game Population: One. Developers promised that the season would challenge and reward both new and existing players. They also teased players with news of an end of season tournament, which was great news for everyone who had been eagerly anticipating private lobbies because those were necessary before any serious competitive events or leagues could take place.

Since the arrival of private lobbies, fans of the game have been quite creative with their events. You’ll find knife-only competitions, small teams, large group matches, and events such as the Solaris versus Hyper Dash players. Definitely BigBox has carefully thought through the process of engaging the community in such a way most everyone can find something appealing and if not, the private lobbies allow them to design their own format.

Population: One is available on all major VR platforms, including Oculus Quest and Rift, HTC Vive, Windows MR and Valve Index. Connect with the community to learn more about the game, sign up for an early access program, and prepare for upcoming official Population: One league events.

Where to Watch

If you’re interested in tuning in for the action on Friday, April 16 starting at 9:30 pm EDT / 6:30 pm PDT, you can catch a cast of the event at twitch.tv/VRespawn_Pro. Also join the Solaris, Hyper Dash and Population: One communities for discussion and follow up videos.

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