StatusPro revealed the new cover stars of NFL Pro Era and announced that the VR sports game is moving to a live service model. CJ Stroud of the Houston Texans, the 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year, will appear on the cover of NFL Pro Era along with Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys.

“It’s an honor to be one of the featured athletes of an incredible game that mirrors playing a quarterback in real life,” Stroud said in a press release. “I love what the team at StatusPRO is doing and when we started talking, I knew I wanted to be a part of NFL PRO ERA and their vision to be the best VR game.”

“I’m an avid gamer, especially VR games and football, so being a cover athlete and playing a key role in NFL Pro Era is a great experience,” said Parsons. “When I spoke with the StatusPro team and they wanted to add a defense to the new version of the game, I knew I wanted to work with them and was thrilled when they wanted me to be a featured athlete.”

As if that wasn’t enough news for one day, StatusPro also said that NFL Pro Era defensive control is happening, so you’re not stuck as Only the quarterback from now on.

When playing defense, you can play as a linebacker, and while your goal is to tackle the opposing quarterback, you can also make interceptions if you play your cards right. StatusPro also tweaks the way plays work to be more in line with modern football, and has revamped the controls and UI to make playing the game smoother and more fun.

“We want to give our loyal fans and players something new and revolutionary in our next version of NFL Pro Era,” said Victor Lugo, Chief Product Officer of StatusPro. “By adding a defense to the game, we want to add something unique to the VR gaming world. It was important that users feel like true leaders of their team on both sides of the ball. As one of the first VR games to feature a realistic defense experience, we made sure fans get the true feeling of being the anchor of the defense when they’re on the field.”

These updates are scheduled to go live on Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 during the 2024-2025 NFL season. Existing players will receive a notification giving them access to all free-to-play modes and can upgrade to the 2025 edition, which includes the new defense mode, updated rosters, and other improvements, for $19.99. New players will have to pay $39.99.