Former Epic Games developer Cliff Bleszinski has long taken an interest in VR, and was one of the original investors in Oculus long before it was purchased by Facebook. So far his new indie studio, Boss Key Productions, hasn’t made a VR game, but that may soon change.
As reported by Gamasutra, Bleszinski noted that he was currently trying to gather investment to fund a VR game during his talk at least week’s Reboot: Develop event. That said, the Gears of War developer noted that investors were (in the report’s words) “balking”, as he’s trying to raise enough to make a full VR game, and not just the kinds of tech demos that many experiences end up being.
While Bleszinski didn’t go into any detail about what the game might be about, other elements of his talk suggest there are some important things he wants to address with it, comfort in VR being one. “Some people say ‘you just need to get your VR sea-legs’ – I say no, if you’re saying that and you’re a developer, you fucked up,” he said.
From the sounds of it, the game might also be built on Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4. “This isn’t because I used to work at Epic, but the best VR experiences I’ve had are in Unreal Engine 4,” Bleszinski added. “Unity is a good engine, but when it comes down to it you can’t beat the definition of Unreal Engine 4. Detail is incredibly important in feeling that sense of presence.”
Finally — and perhaps most excitingly — the game might not be a wave shooter. “What you’re seeing right now is a lot of the wave shooter game — ‘here’s a wave of robots or zombies.’ They’re great, but VR, when it comes to the trajectory of the industry, is mimicking the arcade games of the 80s. If you want to make a good VR game, start there, and move on to what’s next,” the developer said.
Currently Boss Key Productions is working on its first title, LawBreakers. There’s no telling when we might see this VR title, if it ever gets funded.
