According to engadget, developer Pixelity is holding on-site focus group tests for its upcoming Evangelion XR game trilogy later this month. The playtests are scheduled for December 19 to 21 in Japan and on December 19 in California, with the same number of players at each venue. Interested fans near those locations can apply for access via Pixelity’s X account. The trilogy, titled Evangelion: Cross Reflections, will be set within the original anime’s timeline, with the first game covering episodes 1 through 11. That initial installment is currently scheduled for a 2026 release, though specific supported platforms have not been officially confirmed.
Promises and Pitfalls
So, an Evangelion XR experience sounds like a dream for a certain generation of anime fans. The chance to actually sit in the cockpit? To see an Angel up close? That’s potent stuff. But here’s the thing: adapting a property as dense, psychological, and flat-out weird as Evangelion into an interactive format is a monumental challenge. It’s not just about giant robot fights. The series is a slow-burn psychological drama with deeply flawed characters. Can an XR game capture that tone, or will it just be a spectacle-driven mech shooter with an Evangelion skin? I’m skeptical it can land the former, which is what truly defines the franchise.
The Long Road to 2026
A 2026 release date for the first part feels like an eternity away. That’s a huge red flag for scope and development ambition. Basically, they’re telling us this is a massive, multi-year project before the first chapter even hits. In the fast-moving XR space, that’s a risk. Hardware will have evolved, and audience expectations will have shifted multiple times by then. Look at what happened with other ambitious VR projects—they often get stuck in development hell or launch to a landscape that’s moved on. Pixelity needs to prove it can execute consistently over that long haul.
Why Focus Tests Matter
Running these early, in-person tests is actually a smart move. It shows Pixelity might be trying to get the core feel right before building everything out. Are people getting motion sick? Does the scale feel correct? Is the interface intuitive? These are fundamental XR questions that are much cheaper to answer now than in 2025. But it also hints at the complexity. If this was a straightforward arcade game, they’d probably be further along. The need for this kind of foundational feedback suggests they’re grappling with the “how” of the Evangelion experience itself.
Platform Uncertainty and the Meta Question
The report mentions Meta Quest headsets seem like a safe bet, and Road to VR seems to think so too. And they probably are. But the lack of a confirmed platform list for a game two years out is interesting. Is Pixelity hedging its bets, waiting to see how the Apple Vision Pro ecosystem develops? Or maybe hoping for a Sony PSVR 2 port? Locking into a single platform now could limit their potential audience later. But spreading development too thin across multiple, very different XR systems is a recipe for a mediocre product on all of them. It’s a tough balance, and their silence speaks volumes about the uncertainty in the market.
