magic leap independent creator program – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

November 21, 2019

Detective Game Glimt Will be Resolution Games’ Second for Magic Leap

Last year Resolution Games diversified into augmented reality (AR) with Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot for Magic Leap One. Thanks to the Magic Leap Independent Creator Programme the studio has just announced its next project, an original IP called Glimt: The Vanishing at the Grand Starlight Hotel.

Glimt Teaser

The videogame is a detective mystery filled with psychic powers, magic and of course a little murder. Glimt: The Vanishing at the Grand Starlight Hotel looks to take place in the early 20th Century, with you taking on the role of a psychic detective. “New puzzle elements encourage players to think outside the box to solve a crime by using his or her psychic tools and abilities to fill in the gaps during the course of the investigation,” explains a brief synopsis.

“Our upcoming game taps the imagination like no other AR game we’ve made or even seen before, immersing players in a fantastical world of make believe,” stated Tommy Palm, CEO of Resolution Games in a statement. “This will be our third true AR title, and we are excited to be continuing our path of exploring how games can fully leverage the full spectrum of head-mounted AR’s inherent qualities. We can’t wait to share more details and release it to the community.”

Further details regarding locations, psychic powers and storyline have yet to be revealed. Resolution Games will be doing so in the coming months.

Angry Birds: First Person Slingshot

While this is Resolution Games’ second title for Magic Leap, the studio also released AR videogame Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs for both iOS and Android devices. When Glimt: The Vanishing at the Grand Starlight Hotel does arrive it’ll be the tenth immersive experience the studio has released. The most recent was local multiplayer Acron: Attack of the Squirrels featuring one player in virtual reality (VR) with up to eight others playing on mobile devices.

The studio is probably best known for its 2015 fishing title Bait! which supports most headsets and offers a casual angling experience. VRFocus will continue its coverage of the studio and Glimt: The Vanishing at the Grand Starlight Hotel, reporting back with further updates.

August 5, 2019

PuzzlAR: World Tour is the First ARCore Experience Live in China

Western companies generally tend to struggle to break into the lucrative Chinese market for a number of reasons, which is why they’re inclined to find a home-grown partner to help facilitate the process. These first steps can be small and innocuous, such as Google’s ARCore arrival, helped by a videogame called PuzzlAR: World Tour.

PuzzlAR: World Tour image1

A 3D jigsaw puzzle videogame, PuzzlAR: World Tour first arrived for iOS in 2017 followed by Android devices in 2018. It uses landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty or the Taj Mahal and creates digital puzzles out of them. As is commonplace with most augmented reality (AR) titles you scan a flat surface to place the puzzle on, with all the pieces floating around you needing to be grabbed a put in place.

Developed by ONTOP Studios, its arrival in China is thanks to a collaboration with Chinese publisher NetEase (Nostos, Stay Silent), making the puzzle experience the very first ARCore compatible videogame available to the massive Chinese consumer market.

It’s not just mobile AR that ONTOP Studios has been interested in. PuzzlAR: World Tour also went live for the Magic Leap One headset last month, the first app supported by Magic Leap’s Independent Creator Program to do so. The program launched last year, seeing 31 companies chosen out of a pool of 6,500. Other successful applicants included Funktronic Labs (Starbear: Taxi, Cosmic Trip), Metanaut (Gadgeteer); Within, Felix & Paul Studios (Marshall from Detroit, Traveling While Black) and Resolution Games (Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs).

“When I first discovered Magic Leap, I immediately knew this was a company with the vision and means to create technology that can make the future come to life, and I knew entertainment will soon change forever,” said ONTOP Studios’ Creative Director Nun Holhadela in a statement.

Mobile gaming is a massive market in China and one many AR developers like ONTOP Studios are keen to exploit, valved at $30.8 billion in 2018 and expected to rise to $41.5 billion in 2023 according to a report by Niko. Magic Leap doesn’t have quite the same mass-market appeal due to the cost of the device, but it’s encouraging more content on its platform, like the recently announced BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses. As the AR market continues to develop, VRFocus will keep you updated.

August 1, 2019

Explore Mother Nature’s Micro Kingdoms With Magic Leap and BBC Earth Later This Year

In 2018 BBC Studios and videogame developer PRELOADED teamed up with Google for a virtual reality (VR) experience called BBC Earth: Life in VR for Google Daydream. For 2019, the pair have now collaborated with Magic Leap on a mixed reality (MR) project called BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses.

Magic Leap

For this experience, BBC Studios Natural History Unit and PRELOADED will give users the opportunity to explore microhabitats from the natural world and interact with them. Come face to face with ants that can carry many times their own body weight, or for the brave how about everyone’s favourite eight-legged, eight eyed friend, the spider.

As this is on Magic Leap that means all sorts of creepy crawlies running around your living, using the devices spatial qualities to reveal the invisible senses that guide their behaviour and help them survive. BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses has been made possible thanks to funding by the Magic Leap Independent Creator Program.

“We’re pleased to welcome PRELOADED & BBC Studios to the Magic Leap Independent Creator Program, and are looking forward to working with their team to facilitate their launch into our diverse ecosystem of experiences,” said Rio Caraeff, Chief Content Officer, Magic Leap, in a statement. “Together, we’re innovating the next generation of computing and entertainment, and valued Creators such as PRELOADED & BBC Studios are crucial to defining that future.”

BBC microsite header graphic 1-1

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Preloaded to bring our joint interactive and creative skills to such an exciting new platform and technology. Our natural history team has always used new technologies to tell stories and BBC Earth has brought these innovations to new and established audiences to engage them with the natural world. Mixed Reality and the Magic Leap spatial computing platform presents us with exciting new possibilities to achieve these goals,” Head of Digital Entertainment & Games for BBC Studios, Bradley Crooks commented.

BBC Earth – Micro Kingdoms: Senses for Magic Leap will arrive later this year, scheduled for Fall 2019. While BBC Earth: Life in VR for Google Daydream was fairly easy to view thanks to the budget-friendly device, Magic Leap One is an altogether different experience. Magic Leap has made the headset easier to purchase but the basic version will still set you back $2,295 USD. For further updates on the project, keep reading VRFocus.

February 28, 2019

Magic Leap Accepts 31 Companies into its Independent Creator Program

At the end of last year, Magic Leap launched its Independent Creators Program in a bid to foster new ideas and content for its headset, the Magic Leap One. This week the company has announced the successful applicants out of a pool of 6,500.

Magic Leap hero-scene_3x

Magic Leap has chosen 31 companies to participate, provide independent developers with the financial, development and marketing support necessary. Those picked include Resolution Games – the studio behind Magic Leap title Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot – Funktronic Labs (Starbear: Taxi, Cosmic Trip), Metanaut (Gadgeteer), Felix & Paul Studios (Marshall from Detroit, Traveling While Black), Within and Immersiv.

“We had so much fun creating our first Magic Leap title, Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot. We’re super excited to have been selected as a Creator and look forward to pushing the possibilities of gameplay when creating a mixed reality experience from the ground up. We can’t wait to get it out and into the hands of players,” said Tommy Palm, CEO and co-founder of Resolution Games in a statement.

Such was the quality of the applications Magic Leap decided to award nearly 200 additional applicants with Magic Leap One devices so they can continue developing their projects.

Angry Birds: First Person Slingshot

Magic Leap expects the mixed reality (MR) experiences developed as part of the Independent Creator Program to begin launching within the next 90 days. All titles resulting from the Independent Creator Program are expected to be released within the next 12 months.

The Magic Leap One Creator Edition was announced just over a year ago, with a retail price starting from $2,295 USD. Originally the US only, now anyone can purchase the device from Magic Leap’s website. Still very much a developers edition rather than final consumer version, studios have still created gameplay experiences like Insomniac Games with Seedling and Funomena with Luna: Moondust Garden.

The system is comprised of three parts, the main headset (called Lightwear), a battery and processing unit termed ‘Lightpack’, and a 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) movement controller. Magic Leap’s main rival, Microsoft’s HoloLens recently unveiled the HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress (MWC19), improving aspects such as comfort and FoV. As further details regarding Magic Leap are released, VRFocus will keep you updated.

November 16, 2018

Developers Can Apply for Grants up to $500,000 Through Magic Leap’s Independent Creator Program

Do you happen to be a developer with an idea that would be great for augmented reality (AR)/mixed reality (MR) headsets but need some funding to get it off the ground. Well, you’re in luck, as Magic Leap has recently announced its new Independent Creator Program, a development fund looking to offer grants for the best ideas that can be used on Magic Leap One.

Magic Leap One

There’s a lot of money up for grabs and time is short if you want to apply. Magic Leap is offering grants between $20,000 USD and $500,000 per project, along with the developer and marketing support and the hardware participants will need to launch your big idea.

Successful applicants will get more than cash to help bring their vision to life. Lucky grant recipients will be able to access Magic Leap’s full range of partners and resources, including MoCap/VolCap studios, 1:1 guidance from the company’s Developer Relations team – which includes QA testing – and of course some nice shiny Magic Leap One hardware to build it on.

Applications are open now until 15th December. After which point applications will be reviewed and funding will be offered on a rolling basis through 15th February 2019. The best experiences will then be showcased at the second L.E.A.P. Conference in 2019 – the first took place last month.

Magic Leap One Reveal

The Magic Leap One Creator Edition was finally announced almost a year ago, with a retail price starting from $2,295 USD. While the user base is going to be small, Magic Leap will still need plenty of content to showcase its technology.

The Magic Leap One system is comprised of three parts, the main headset (called Lightwear), a battery and processing unit termed ‘Lightpack’, and a 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) movement controller. One of the biggest negatives seized upon regarding the headset was the field of view (FOV). Listed as 40 degrees horizontal by 30 degrees vertical its only just bigger than Microsoft’s HoloLens and much smaller than any VR headset. If further details of the Magic Leap Independent Creator Program are released, VRFocus will let you know.

November 15, 2018

Magic Leap is Offering Individual Developers up to $500K for Their AR Projects

At Magic Leap’s developer conference last month, the company announced they were ready to throw down serious cash to developers to build apps for their new AR headset, Magic Leap One. Now, the company has unveiled the specifics of the Independent Creator Program, which aims to give individual developers and teams up to $500,000 in grant money to start their ML One projects.

Update (November 15th, 2:50 PM ET): According to a Variety report, Magic Leap chief content officer Rio Caraeff says the grant fund is projected to be an “eight-figure program.”

There’s no clear ceiling on how much Magic Leap has earmarked for the development fund (see update), but it’s safe to say it’s pretty high considering the company is offering between $20,000 and $500,000 per project to populate their content store.

This, the company says on the program’s site, comes along with developer and marketing support, and also a Magic Leap One headset itself.

The company underlines the fact that the program is a grant, and not an exclusivity deal. “You own your IP and publishing is not exclusive to Magic Leap,” the company writes.

Applications are now open starting today and continue until December 15th, 2018. The review process and resultant funding will be offered on an ongoing basis through February 15th, 2019. The company says once developers have built, submitted and launched their apps that the best experiences will be showcased at L.E.A.P. Conference in 2019.