Oculus Studios announces yet another addition to their team of veteran developers.
It seems as though Facebook just can’t help itself when it comes to purchasing accomplished developers. In an official Oculus blog post published earlier today, the company revealed its acquisition of Ready at Dawn Studios, the team behind hit VR titles including Lone Echo, Echo Arena, and Echo Combat.
“Ready At Dawn is a veteran game developer, having shipped games to multiple platforms in the past, and a VR pioneer, states the company in the blog post. “They’ve created four games for the Oculus platform since 2017, including Lone Echo, Echo Arena, Echo Combat, and Lone Echo II (currently in development), all of which feature Ready At Dawn’s signature zero-g continuous locomotion system and full-body IK (inverse kinematics).”
So what exactly does this mean for Ready at Dawn? While it’s true Facebook has purchased the entirety of the team, Ready at Dawn will continue to work independently out of its original offices in Irvine, California and Portland, Oregon; the only different being that they now have the full support of both Facebook and Oculus Studios.
“With Facebook’s latest advancements in VR technology, Ready At Dawn can readily explore a future of rich and immersive original VR content,” states Facebook, adding, “As part of the Oculus Studios team, Ready At Dawn will continue creating memorable, immersive, and innovative VR content for gamers around the world as an independently-operated studio. We’re thrilled to welcome them to the family.”
As for upcoming projects, Facebook says the team is focused entirely on the release of Lone Echo II, which is scheduled to arrive later this year on Oculus headsets. In the future, I’m curious to see if and how Ready at Dawn’s unique full-body IK (inverse kinematics) locomotion system plays role in future Oculus Studio titles. No doubt many this zero-g movement system could be used in a variety of immersive experiences.
Ready at Dawn’s purchase marks the latest in a long line of high-profile acquisitions by Facebook. This past February the company purchased Sanzaru Games, developer behind the popular VR RPG Asgard’s Wrath. Before that, they picked up Beat Games, developer of the genre-defying VR rhythm game Beat Saber.
Image Credit: Ready at Dawn Studios
