Insomniac Games announces release dates for Song Of The Deep, Edge Of Nowhere and 2 new Oculus VR games

Developer Insomniac Games has announced its storybook-inspired Metroidvania-style game Song Of The Deep is releasing on 12 July for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The side-scrolling, undersea 2D adventure will be the first game published by GameStop's new label GameTrust.

Rooted in Irish mythology, Song Of The Deep follows Merryn, the daughter of a fisherman who goes missing at sea and who builds a makeshift submarine to explore the depths of the ocean to find him. The title's retail release will be exclusive to GameStop stores for $14.99 (£10.5) and available digitally through the PlayStation Store, Steam and Xbox Games store.

Earlier in the year, GameStop announced plans to partner with the Ratchet & Clank developer to bring Song Of The Deep to the company's stores as well as that of digital retailers as part of its venture into what it calls non-traditional publishing. Although GameStop has no creative control over the new game, it will handle its promotion and marketing.

Insomniac Games is also looking to tap into the virtual reality (VR) trend, revealing that it is working on three titles for the Oculus Rift, which includes the previously announced third-person, survival horror game Edge Of Nowhere. Set in Antarctica, the action-adventure game is slated for release through the Oculus Store on 6 June.

According to a blog post, the two new games announced include adventure-brawler VR game Feral Rites, which takes place on a cursed island. The title is set for release on the Oculus this fall. Another Oculus Rift title is The Unspoken, a VR action game that "pulls players into a hidden worlds of spellcasting and magician's duels" that is set to come out in November.

The virtual reality and augmented reality market is expected to draw $150bn (£105bn) by 2020, as per a report by Digi-Capital, prompting game developers to quickly tap into the new technology. According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, global virtual reality headset revenues are expected to reach $895m in 2016, with 77% of that value generated by newly launched headsets Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR.

"For us, this is an opportunity to develop a design expertise that helps us flex our creative muscles more than probably any time in the recent past," Insomniac founder and CEO Ted Price told GamesIndustry.biz. "We're addressing some really interesting and unexpected challenges within VR. One of the major attractions for us has been to try new things, to be on a platform where you really have to innovate constantly to produce compelling content."

The studio's packed announcement comes on the heels of its recently released Ratchet & Clank for PS4 and its upcoming movie that arrives in theatres on 29 April.