The paper presents a narrative on the state of the question about the teaching and assessment of generic soft skills through Virtual Environments (VEs) in universities, based on consultation of scientific journals in electronic and printed format published between 2000 and 2014, as well as research projects focused on the development of generic skills through VEs. The paper summarises the theoretical and empirical contributions as a way of providing a greater insight into a line of research that began barely a decade ago. Soft skills related to student training, when combined with specific skills, enable better performance in personal, academic, social and organisational settings. This premise implies the need to consider the development of new methodologies for teaching, learning and assessment of soft skills. Results include the value of soft skills in training university students, as well as the development of innovative projects focused on the provision of teaching and assessment procedures that are feasible and effective for the achievement of soft skills assessment in VEs.