Baobab’s adorable virtual reality animated short Invasion has reportedly been downloaded over 1 million times according to co-founder Maureen Fan. Fan was most recently the vice president of games at Zynga before starting Baobab with Madagascar and Antz director Eric Darnell. UploadVR had the chance to speak with Fan on the show floor of CES 2017 where she hinted at the success of Baobab’s first production, Invasion.
“I contractually can’t speak to exact download numbers,”Fan said speaking about her contracts with the many VR platforms Invasion appears on, but when UploadVR asked if she could tell us if the number is above or below 1 million Fan did admit that Invasion’s download numbers are “well over 1 million” for all platforms.
Invasion is available for free on just about every VR platform available to date including Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream, PlayStation VR and HTC Vive. This type of cross-platform distribution would hopefully lead to the type of numbers Fan is describing and points to a reassuringly healthy VR ecosystem. To put it simply: if a free app featuring a cute little bunny isn’t able to reach millions of downloads, then the immersive industry would be in a lot of trouble.
Invasion is an engaging, albeit brief story that follows you, a rabbit and two wayfaring aliens named Mac and Cheez. The aliens arrival on earth is is interrupted by you and your fuzzy companion and the would be invaders are sent packing. The experience also features the narration of Ethan Hawke.
Babobab’s next film, which was being previewed at CES is titled “Asteroids” and will follow the continuing exploits of Mac and Cheez as they make their way across the galaxy. This next installment will feature the voice talents of Elizabeth Banks and will premiere in just a few weeks at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
