In 2016 indie developer Iris VR Inc. launched its first virtual reality (VR) experience Technolust, a cyberpunk-themed adventure made possible thanks to a Kickstarter campaign. Now the studio is back with another crowd-funding campaign for the videogames’ spiritual successor Low-Fi.
The brainchild of Blair Renaud, Low-Fi is another dystopian sci-fi experience inspired by some of the film greats such as Blade Runner, Robocop, Outland and Alien. A story synopsis explains that:
“LOW-FI is the street name given to those who cannot merge with The Platform, a ubiquitous virtual reality simulation where most of the population now live their lives. You are a low-fi police officer that has recently been transferred to a particularly crime ridden section of city-block 303. The only inhabitants of note in your jurisdiction are other low-fi, and human intelligence (or below) artificial life forms who have remained among the citizens after the AI singularity.”
As a cop you can patrol the city streets on foot, finding crime among the dark neon-lit streets or head into the skies to cover vast areas in your police cruiser. Designed as a non-linear open world for you to explore, you’re free to do your job and investigate crimes or simply head to the casino if that’s what you want.
The Low-Fi Kickstarter aims to raise $60,000 CAD in the next 30 days, having already achieved just over $22,000. To access a copy of the videogame when it becomes available you’ll need to pledge at least $35 (£22 GBP) for the normal retail copy. Here’s where things get a little confusing. Most of the tiers list a delivery date of October 2019, but that’s not for the full title, merely the ‘Development Build’ which is included with all but the first two tiers. As Iris VR lists on its website, the full commercial release of Low-Fi is expected to happen sometime in 2020.
To begin with Low-Fi is being made for PC VR headsets like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality. The studio has also set some lofty stretch goals, two of which include PlayStation VR ($500,000) and Oculus Quest ($850,000) support. As the campaign continues, VRFocus will bring you further updates.