HoloLens, Oculus and id Software vets form new VR studio

Drifter Entertainment will focus on competitive and social VR experiences.

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VR continues to be the big thing in games right now, with more and more companies announcing their versions of hardware that will immerse players in a virtual world. The games continue to roll out as well, and there doesn't appear to be a lull in sight. So there must be room for a new VR developer run by some experienced industry veterans, right?

Drifter Entertainment has launched, helmed by three developers with hands-on work with HoloLens and Oculus, as well as creating such games as Doom 3 and Halo 4. The founders include:

  • Ray Davis: Worked on Gears of War 1 and 2 and the VR title Bullet Train as well as the Unreal Engine at Epic, but has also worked at Microsoft on HoloLens and Kinect.
  • Kenneth Scott: Most recently worked at Oculus on launch content for the device, but also worked at id as lead artist on Quake 3, Doom 3 and Rage, as well as at Microsoft as art director on Halo 4.
  • Brian Murphy: Most recently a creative director at Microsoft, he has worked on HoloLens, Xbox One and Kinect development, and helped ship the VR title HoloTour for HoloLens.

The company plans on creating virtual content for the competitive and social scenes.

"We're passionate about the opportunity to finally bring our vision to life," Davis said in a press release. "Virtual reality represents a rare opportunity to build an entirely new generation of game experiences to completely immerse yourself in. We're combining our expertise in crafting incredibly polished games along with our early expertise with VR to build some truly amazing (and fun!) games for these emerging platforms."

Contributing Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    October 26, 2016 8:04 AM

    John Keefer posted a new article, HoloLens, Oculus and id Software vets form new VR studio

    • reply
      October 26, 2016 9:49 AM

      Cool can't wait to see what they put out in eight years.

    • reply
      October 26, 2016 11:45 AM

      I wish they had had some kind of statement explaining why they left Oculus/HoloLens in order to form a competing studio. It'd be interesting to hear what they think those other devices are lacking that they can make better, while also giving an indication of what whatever it is they'll build will be like.

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        October 26, 2016 12:11 PM

        Probably older guys who don't like working for younger people. Pure speculation by their resumes.

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        October 26, 2016 1:05 PM

        Are they competing? Not sure we know if they are making hardware or becoming content providers

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          October 26, 2016 1:29 PM

          You know, I read VR and instantly thought hardware. I hadn't given thought to the idea that they could be forming a software company dedicated to working solely on VR games/apps. Makes total sense though.

          It's a rather big risk though.

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            October 26, 2016 1:30 PM

            In fact, that makes it pretty awesome news. My biggest fear with VR is that nobody will be willing to devote real resources to making full VR experiences, so if they go the full on software VR shop route with people with such experience it could be great for VR!

          • reply
            October 26, 2016 2:10 PM

            yeah those key people make it sound like a game studio than a hardware studio

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