Updated
Updated · roadtovr.com · Jun 30
3R Games Adds Tham Luang VR Update Next Month, Bringing First Swimming to Cave Crave
Updated
Updated · roadtovr.com · Jun 30

3R Games Adds Tham Luang VR Update Next Month, Bringing First Swimming to Cave Crave

3 articles · Updated · roadtovr.com · Jun 30

Summary

  • Next month, 3R Games will add Thailand’s Tham Luang cave system to Cave Crave, letting players explore the real-world site in the game’s objective-free Tourist Mode.
  • The update expands the studio’s 'Real Caves in VR' initiative and aims for authenticity over dramatization, recreating the cave’s structure and conditions rather than the 2018 rescue itself.
  • LiDAR-based scans and work with cave diver Vern Unsworth and 3D scanning expert Roo Walters were used to capture the cave’s geometry, darkness and scale.
  • Flooded corridors will introduce swimming to Cave Crave for the first time, with limited visibility and restricted oxygen designed to make exploration more demanding.
  • Tham Luang gained global attention in 2018 when 12 boys and their coach were trapped by flooding; two divers died during the international rescue effort.

Insights

Can a VR replica of the Thai cave help conservation, or does it simply commercialize a site of tragedy?
As VR games log your every move, is this virtual cave worth the price of your biometric data?