The VRDC (Virtual Reality Developers Conference) welcomes experts on VR, AR, and mixed reality content to speak across a collection of disciplines including health care, journalism, film, and more. There are a ton of events featuring VR and AR this year, as you can see in our constantly evolving list of conferences and festivals, and the different sessions for these events are largely what set each conference apart. The VRDC team has revealed the first sessions and they come from the Games & Entertainment and Innovations conference tracks.
How to Be a Successful VR Game Studio
Speaker: Paul Bettner (Playful Corp)
Starting a traditional game studio is a challenge not for the faint-hearted. However, making it as an indie game studio making VR games is beyond challenging. It can be downright mystifying! Playful will share what it’s learned over the years doing just that; everything from how to raise money, how to convince publishers to fund your games, how to manage a team that, no matter how talented, is facing a brand new industry with a steep learning curve, and how to create a sustainable culture on the leading edge of disruption. Come listen to how Playful signed a deal with Oculus to fund Lucky’s Tale, which became the only game bundled with the Oculus Rift at launch (EVE Valkyrie was only for pre-orders), and how they raised $25 million in funding to make VR games.
Creating Social Experiences in VR
Speaker: Mike Booth (Facebook)
While video and text can help us communicate with friends and family, VR provides an even more immersive way to connect. With the power of presence, VR allows us to feel like we’re really there together with people we care about. From there we can hang out, have fun and share meaningful experiences together in virtual spaces. The developers of today will help shape the virtual social experiences of tomorrow. The opportunities are limitless. This session will explore the key components of building an immersive social experience with people at the center, and how virtual reality will enable us to engage in entirely new ways with our friends and family.
Obduction, from 2D to VR: A Postmortem and Lessons Learned
Speaker: Hannah Gamiel (Cyan, Inc.)
Hannah Gamiel will explore the triumphs and tribulations of the development of Obduction, a game by Cyan. Inc. (creators of Myst) that had an initial release in 2D and a successive release in VR for Oculus Rift, Vive, and (soon to be) PSVR. Topics discussed will be how Cyan laid out the foundation of generic VR systems during 2D development to ensure a successful transition to VR system engineering, assumptions made that hurt or helped VR development during the emergence of new VR hardware, and how lessons learned will help lay out the groundwork for future VR titles’ success.
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VRDC’s fall conference will include content across four specific tracks: Games & Entertainment, Brand Experience, Innovation, and Partners. The event takes place on September 21 and 22 and you can find attendee pass information here. If you’re interested in being an exhibitor, there’s information here.
