Category: Escalation Studios

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Bethesda Utilises Escalation Studios VR Talents for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR

In February this year Zenimax Media Inc. announced the acquisition of virtual reality (VR) content developer Escalation Studios (Please, Don’t Touch Anything, Herobound Gladiators) to help with various projects. Now it’s been revealed that Escalation Studios has lent its talents to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, which is due for release on PlayStation VR this Friday, 17th November.

During an on-stage interview with Bethesda Softworks, Content Manager, Anne Lewis, she asked Andrew Scharf, Lead Producer, Bethesda Game Studios if the team had been working with anyone else to make The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR a reality, to which he responded: “We’re working with a great team at Escalation Studios. They recently joined the Zenimax family and we’re really happy to have them. They’ve been on the forefront of VR, they’re one of the best VR developers in the industry.”

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR screenshot

Scharf went on to reveal Escalation Studios played a part in another of its big franchises coming to VR, Fallout 4 VR. “They’ve helped us hit the ground running with both Fallout and Skyrim VR,” he continued. “Helping us come up with smart solutions to some of the considerations you need to make when you’re developing a title for VR and redesigning games systems to work for VR.”

While both titles maybe several years old, the launch of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR this week for PlayStation VR and Fallout 4 VR in December for HTC Vive, are hotly anticipated, offering players a new way to immerse themselves in these fantasy/sci-fi universes. And let’s not forget about DOOM VFR which is coming to both aforementioned headsets on 1st December.

For The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR fans looking for more info prior to launch then there’s always today’s livestream event to see the videogame in action, or read VRFocus’ most recent preview from Gamescom.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR will come complete with all the downloadable content (DLC) previously released for the videogame, Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn, but there won’t be mod support. Last week also saw Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announce the PlayStation VR Skyrim VR Bundle featuring the title and the latest version of the headset.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, reporting back with any further updates.

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VR Projects Teased As ZeniMax Acquires Oculus Dev Escalation Studios

VR Projects Teased As ZeniMax Acquires Oculus Dev Escalation Studios

ZeniMax Media’s legal battle with Oculus isn’t over just yet, but that’s not stopping the company from making moves in the VR space.

Escalation Studios, the developer behind the VR port of Please, Don’t Touch Anything! [Review: 8/10] and the Oculus-published Herobound: Gladiators, has been picked up by the publishing company, which owns game publisher Bethesda Softworks. Escalation has worked on plenty of games outside of the VR industry, though a press release notes the studio “will continue to contribute its talents across PC, console, mobile, and VR titles going forward.” No other mention of VR is made within the release, however.

The two studios already share a close relationship; Escalation developed the SnapMap game editor for Bethesda-published Doom when it released last year. The company also created an NBA viewing app for Gear VR as its first step into the industry.

It certainly seems like we could see more VR games under the Bethesda label, then. Currently Bethesda itself is porting its popular RPG, Fallout 4, to the HTC Vive, which is easily one of the biggest and most anticipated projects on the horizon. Hopefully we can expect something of a similar scope from this new deal.

Until late January, Escalation had only worked on VR games that appeared exclusively on Oculus platforms. On January 21st, however, it issued an update to the non-VR version of Don’t Touch Anything, dubbed Please, Don’t Touch Anything 3D, that added support for the Vive. ZeniMax itself is currently awaiting a verdict from the jury in its court room battle with Oculus after it claimed the company had built the Oculus Rift off of its own resources, supplied by former id developer John Carmack, now Oculus’ CTO.

We’ve been waiting on the verdict all week; hopefully we’ll get one today. Whatever the outcome, it seems ZeniMax is committed to growing its VR presence no matter what.

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