VRFocus interviews Peter Dawe, co-founder of New Island Studios Inc. about Escape VR, an escape room title for the Samsung Gear VR. The videogame was released last December with one room, where the player has to either find a way to escape the room before the bomb goes off, or figure out a way to diffuse it. This can be done by finding ways to open the safes on the wall, where they’ll find more clues.
Both Peter and his partner Victor were studying mechanical engineering and were so inspired by what virtual reality (VR) had to offer they decided to take the leap and make their first game, and on top of that make it in virtual reality (VR). Around Newfoundland, Canada, there are various real physical escape rooms which they enjoyed and felt were missing in the realm of VR, at least something they’d want to play. Dawe explains that it was a steep learning curve teaching themselves how to script and deal with simulation sickness, however that they’ve decided VR is what they love and want to continue doing as a studio.
A new room is set to be released this Summer and another at the end of Fall. They hope to expand to the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Google Daydream with potentially some other VR experiences down the pipeline. Watch the video below to find out more.