Schell Games’ upcoming VR puzzle sequel, I Expect You To Die 2, may not have been the game it’s shaping up to be right now if it weren’t for the Oculus Quest.
Speaking to Upload in an interview we’ll have more on this week, CEO Jesse Schell said he wasn’t sure the studio “would have made the level of investment that we’re making into the sequel if Quest wasn’t where it is.”
The original I Expect You To Die, a spy-themed escape room-style VR game, launched for Oculus Rift in November 2016 before coming to SteamVR and PSVR. Nearly two years later in September 2018 it had made $3 million in revenue across those platforms. The game then came to the standalone Quest platform shortly after launch in May 2019 and, in just over a year, had generated $2 million on Quest alone, suggesting this version’s performance was outpacing the other platform’s sales combined. It’s now one of over 60 titles that has generated more than $1 million in revenue on Quest, which also includes Schell’s Until You Fall.
In early 2020, Schell himself said that if Quest couldn’t succeed then the industry should “just all hang it up.” So, with the platform evidently growing in the way he’d hoped, I asked Schell if I Expect You To Die 2 would exist without Quest and Quest 2.
“I certainly think it would have made us more conservative [without Quest],” Schell said. “I think we might’ve taken a slower path with this or looked for publisher support instead of doing it independently. Or maybe we would have waited to see a little longer. I’m not sure, but without a doubt, I think this title coming out, the amount of investment we’re putting into it and the timeline that it’s on, that wouldn’t be happening without the Quest.”
Schell Games hasn’t officially announced release platforms for I Expect You To Die 2 yet but, based on these comments, it’s a good bet it’ll at least come to Quest. The sequel is due out later this year.
