As one of the first developers to release a game for Gear VR and helping to bring multiplayer classic Gang Beasts [Review: 7/10] to Rift, Coatsink is one of the UK’s biggest VR devs, and 2017 sounds like it will be a significant year for the company.
CEO Tom Beardsmore confirmed to UploadVR that the developer is currently working on three new VR projects. While he wouldn’t announce any of them at this point in time, he did state that some of them would be exclusive to “certain platforms” while others wouldn’t be. It sounds like we could see our first Coatsink games on Vive and PS VR, then. He also teased that “some may be suited to new hardware coming out.”
There’s plenty there for us to speculate on, then. Coatsink has previously worked under the Oculus Studios banner with its two Esper games, which released first on Gear VR before coming over to the Oculus Rift. It’s quite possible the team has another game on the way under that partnership, though it could just as easily be working on a PlayStation VR exclusive if not on the HTC Vive as one of the new Vive Studios teams.
The new hardware hint is also enticing. Currently the only prominent new VR hardware on the horizon we can think of is Vive’s new tracker, which can be stuck to objects to bring them into the virtual world. There’s also PS VR’s Aim controller, which is currently only confirmed to support upcoming exclusive, Farpoint. There are of course a variety of standalone VR headsets and other contenders coming like the eye-tracking FOVE, which these games could just as easily be suited for.
We’re looking forward to seeing what the developer has in store: Esper 1 and 2 rank as some of our favorite games on Gear VR right now, and it has a lot more to offer. Beardsmore stated that “90%” of the team was working on VR “to one degree or another” right now.
Coatsink is also continuing to help Boneloaf with Gang Beasts, which remains in an Early Access state. The game’s expected to come to PS4 this year and support PS VR via a post-launch patch.
