Financial struggles hit promising VR shooter

Image: Niorun Studios

The ambitious tactical shooter Tier One: Direct Action for Meta Quest stumbles after early access, leaving development in limbo.

FACTS

After a brief stint in early access, the VR tactical shooter Tier One: Direct Action has hit a rough patch — development is on hold, and the future of the project is looking shaky.

Yesterday, the developers at Niorun Studios posted a candid update on their Discord server, laying out the current state of affairs. The headline: things aren’t looking good. The early access version, which dropped on the Horizon Store back in February, has already been pulled.

The team’s original plan was to use the prototype — more than a year in the making — to showcase community interest and attract investors. For many smaller studios, this sort of momentum is essential to getting funding across the finish line.

But, as the studio bluntly put it, “feedback and engagement from the community did not meet expectations.” While plenty of players voiced support for further development, that enthusiasm didn’t translate into the kind of tangible backing the studio needed. The result: Niorun Studios couldn’t secure enough funding to move ahead as intended.

Right now, there’s some restructuring going on behind the scenes. The team isn’t throwing in the towel yet — they’re actively exploring ways to keep the project afloat. Development has ground to a halt compared to the original roadmap, but as the devs put it, the game is “technically not dead.”

CONTEXT

Successful Kickstarter with an uncertain future

It wasn’t always like this. In July 2023, Niorun Studios ran a Kickstarter campaign for Tier One: Direct Action that crept over its $40,000 goal. The original timeline called for an early access launch in late 2024, but that slipped.

The game finally arrived in early access on February 20, 2025, for Meta Quest 3, Quest 3S, and Quest 2, with a launch price around $13. The initial build shipped with sabotage and team deathmatch modes, a dozen-plus weapons with realistic handling, and two maps (both with day and night versions).

The studio had aimed for a full release by the end of 2025, promising more maps, new features, upgraded graphics, and tighter gameplay. Whether any of that is still on the table is anyone’s guess at this point.

Niorun Studios itself is made up of over 20 VR veterans, including eight core team members who previously worked on the well-known VR shooter Onward. Their pitch: Tier One would be a “spiritual successor” to Onward, mixing in influences from tactical classics like ArmA and Rainbow Six Siege.

If you’ve been following Tier One: Direct Action, how are you feeling about all of this? Join the conversation on Facebook, Bluesky or X or share your opinion in the comments below.

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