Shiesty VR is out now as a free open-world crime sandbox on Meta Quest. It is one of the louder launches of the week. You steal cars, rob shops and outrun the police across the sunset city of Hustle Rock, solo or with mates. Squido Studio built it, CurlyBlue published it, and jmancurly’s community has been poking it in public playtests for months. So here is what Shiesty VR actually is. I will cover what is free, what costs money, and who I think it is for.
Buying the Launch Day Bundle or anything else for Shiesty VR on the Meta Store? You can use my promo code VRCGUY. It is my own code, and it is a simple way to support the site.
What is Shiesty VR?
According to the 5 November Games Press launch release, Shiesty is a free-to-play open-world crime sandbox. Players start at the bottom of Hustle Rock’s criminal underworld and work their way up. That means holding up shops, lifting cars, fencing loot and settling debts with the Don.
The more chaos you cause, the harder the city’s police push back. The official pitch also lists climb, drive, zip line and grapple movement. There is an in-game phone so you can call other players. The site shiesty.gg leans into the same idea: no rules, just watch out for the cops.
Squido Studio is the team behind No More Rainbows and DigiGods. CurlyBlue is jmancurly’s studio. The press release frames Shiesty VR as the latest title from that partnership. Squido handles the physics-driven VR side. jmancurly’s audience has been feeding into systems, missions and the city through public playtests.
How Shiesty on Quest plays
I have not downloaded or played Shiesty VR myself yet. So this is what the official materials say, rather than a hands-on review. The feature list is pretty clear, though.
- Rob stores, lockpick registers, and point a weapon at NPCs to make them hand over goods.
- Collect cars and guns around Hustle Rock, then customise them.
- Wanted stars rise as you make more trouble, and the police get tougher.
- Fence loot at a pawn shop, then pay the Don to level up.
- Call players on an in-game phone that includes a mini map.
- Move around by climbing, driving, zip lining and grappling.
Put simply, it is aiming at the VR version of a cheeky crime sandbox night with friends. If that sounds closer to a social hangout than a story campaign, you are reading it the same way I am too.
Playtests and the community so far
The Games Press note says brief public playtests alone brought in more than 100,000 players. They peaked at nearly 4,000 concurrent users. It also says the Shiesty Discord had grown past 30,000 members ahead of launch. Those are publisher figures, so treat them as marketing numbers. Still, they suggest a big free download spike was expected.
On the Meta Store listing, Shiesty VR was showing a 4.6 rating from more than 12,000 ratings when I checked. That is a large sample for a Quest title. It fits the story that lots of people tried the playtests before the full launch.
Shiesty price, headsets and launch details
Here are the Shiesty VR facts I could verify from the launch release and the store:
- Release: full launch on 5 November 2026 at 3pm ET / 12pm PT / 9pm CET.
- Price: free to play. Optional Launch Day Bundle at $29.99 USD, with a cosmetic kit, a weapon variant and premium currency.
- Platforms: Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S and Quest Pro, exclusively on the Meta Horizon Store.
- Players: online multiplayer, solo or with friends.
- Languages: English and French, per the press release.
- Rating: Teen.
Because the base game is free, the usual “is it worth £X?” question shifts. The real question is whether the free loop is fun enough. After that comes whether the paid bundle or later shop items feel fair. I cannot answer the shop side without playing it. What I can say is that free Quest downloads with optional cosmetics are now a proper part of the store. They sit alongside hangouts like FISHY VR.
Is Shiesty worth downloading on Quest 3 and 3S?
If you like open-world chaos with friends, Shiesty on Quest looks like an easy yes for a free install. Quest 3 and Quest 3S owners are the obvious audience for a big social sandbox right now. Quest 2 is still listed as supported too. That matters while people work out their upgrade plans after Meta’s support wind-down. I covered those dates in my Quest 2 end of support post.
It also sits in a different corner of the library from the week’s paid co-op shooters. If you already looked at Payday Aces High on Quest, Shiesty VR is the free, sillier crime sandbox. It is not a structured heist campaign. Different mood, different time commitment.
Who it suits, and the honest caveats
It should suit groups who want a shared toy box. It also suits jmancurly fans who followed the playtests, and anyone browsing free Quest games for a Friday night. For a wider sense of what else is strong on the headset, start with my Meta Quest hub. The round-up of AAA games on Meta Quest 3 helps too.
There are caveats. First, free-to-play usually means a shop, and the Launch Day Bundle is already there at $29.99. Second, open-world VR sandboxes live or die on netcode, griefing and whether the cops stay fun after the novelty fades. Third, I have not played it. I am not going to pretend I know how the wanted system feels after an hour. And fourth, a crime sandbox with guns and robberies is not for every household, even at a Teen rating.
For VR cricket fans specifically, this is not a sports title. It will not replace nets practice. But if your Quest gets used for more than cricket, a free city with friends is still useful to know about.