Batman: Arkham Shadow

Virtual Reality game transforming the Arkham series into an immersive first-person experience

Released: October 22, 2024

Role: Senior User Researcher - Lead Researcher

Where: Oculus Studios (Meta) for Camouflaj

When: Throughout 2024

Contributions: Iterative usability testing for the early game experience and a diary-style longitudinal study to identify frictions and blockers throughout the full game, collaborations with Data Science and QA “Dogfooding” teams

Camouflaj had been tasked with a big challenge for this game, asked to transform the acclaimed Arkham series from a 2D, third-person brawler into an immersive, first-person experience where you embody Batman himself. It was critically important that the studio didn't lose that “Arkham” feel with Batman's combat and stealth abilities, detective skills, and gadgets. The previous Arkham games had set high expectations for the experience, and part of my job was to help the studio evaluate how well they executed this goal, as well as ensuring it had smooth onboarding for players who might be new to VR action games.

And they nailed it. Batman: Arkham Shadow won “Best VR/AR Game” at The Game Awards 2024, “Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game” at New York Game Awards 2024, and the 2025 D.I.C.E. Awards “Immersive Reality Game of the Year” along with nominations in several other categories.

Oculus Studios built Batman: Arkham Shadow as a high profile “system seller” title, bundled for free on Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets in late 2024 and early 2025 to drive sales of the newest generation of VR headsets.