As part of the content review, the team will play through (or work through) your app, ensuring it does not generate any red flags, or infringe on the policies set within the Content Policy Guidelines.

Some of the significant factors that are used to guide this analysis of your app are shown below.

Object interaction: Avoid poor or broken object interactions that might prevent the player from progressing through your app. Maximize the ability to interact with objects that would seem to be interactive. Enable audio/visual/haptic feedback with object interactions. Simplify your control scheme so that users can move through your experience without being hindered by a complicated interaction method.

Locomotion: Ensure your locomotion system does not produce eyestrain, nausea, or major discomfort. Offer less intense locomotion systems when possible (blink teleporting, snap turning, vignette, and so on.) For additional guidance, see Locomotion Best Practices.

Comfort and safety: Avoid any interactions that are likely to produce eyestrain, nausea, or major discomfort, including during elongated play sessions.

Player orientation: Based on each player’s physical orientation and how your app is designed, do your best to enable a positive user experience per each orientation option. For example:

Camera orientation: Avoid designing your app so that the camera shakes erratically in response to a gameplay event or moves drastically beyond the users control. Forced camera movements can take away user agency and leave the user feeling uncomfortable.

Utilization of space: Design your gameplay in a way that is appropriate for the platform. Implement balanced, measured intensity interactions. You might design high intensity portions of the game to limit the camera frustrum, while calming, low intensity areas could use more of the 360º, surrounding environment. As well, keep accessibility in mind. Is every user able to traverse or see the space in the same way and have the same experience?

Uniqueness of concept: Is your app a unique experience? How much of it could only be done in VR vs. another medium? How does your app compare to the other titles available in the same genre?

Content variety and depth: The environments, characters, and game modes should have variation and progression. It should generally take more than a few minutes to experience the full app.

Defined game loop and goal-based interactions: Does your app include repeatable activities that are fun to perform? Is there clear player progression? A satisfying game-loop or interaction can help users feel the application is worth their time and investment.

Replayability: Will the player want to experience your app again if they have completed the single player narrative or path? If your app is multiplayer, is there a desire to play more than 1 or 2 rounds? Generally, players are more willing to invest in an application if they can foresee themselves returning to it after the initial playthrough.

Rendering and shader implementation: Be sure you are following MSAA and general shader/optimization best practices. This includes using Shader Graph, RenderDoc, Shader Toy, Unity’s Shader Variant Collection, Post-Processing Stack, and other optimization tools and processes like those featured in the Mobile Optimization Section.

You should also follow post-processing effect best practices, like using anti-aliasing and avoiding effects that can cause discomfort.

Physics: Some players expect a sense of physical fidelity in VR and broken physics can at times be the most obvious indicator that an application is buggy, or broken. If you are purposefully attempting to defy the laws of physics, make sure it is in line with your intent as a designer.

Assets and animation: Visual consistency and a strong sense of tone is a vital part of a successful app. If it feels like your application is disjointed in a way that isn’t purposeful, it can lead to a confusing user experience. Ensure that your textures, lighting, and assets are consistent, and animations are smooth.

For social VR apps, we recommend using some sort of mouth/lip animation and be sure that these are synchronized with speech input. For more information on Lipsync, see the following documentation pages for Unity or Unreal.

UI and text rendering: All text must be easy to read and in an obvious location in space. UI elements should be either attached to the body, or otherwise represented in a way that fits the game narrative and increases immersion. If a user is not facing the UI, they should be given direction, or have the UI move with the user.

Subtitles: To make your game more accessible, consider using subtitles for dialogue and sounds. Subtitles should adhere to the same rules as UI and other text to make for a smooth experience.

Sound: You should include quality music/effects throughout, with volume appropriate based on the specific section of the app. Spatial or directional audio cues are used to notify or guide the user. For more information, see the Oculus Spatializer for Unity or Unreal.