Survios Raw Data game developer opens a publishing department

Survios is an American virtual reality game developer and software publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company develops virtual reality games and software, including the Raw Data and Sprint Vector titles.

Survios Raw Data game developer opens a publishing department

Survios was founded by graduates from the University of Southern California. They worked together on Project Holodeck. The company raised more than $54 million in funding with backers led by Shasta Ventures, Lux Capital and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In 2013, Survios began introducing its first virtual reality project called Zombies on the Holodeck, a survival shooter based on the Oculus Rift prototype. The project has won 3 Proto award categories.

In 2014, Survios received $4 million in funding from Shasta Ventures, Mavent Partners, World Innovation Lab and Felicis Ventures allowing the studio to continue developing VR content and technology.

Survios’ new division will focus on indie PC, console and VR games, especially hardcore titles. 2124 will provide a number of services to independent developers prior to launch, including a creative services team to help with marketing.

China Jefferson, who previously worked at Disney and Activision, will serve as 2124’s Chief Product Officer. Jefferson said in a statement: “The launch of 2124 Publishing marks a new, long-awaited era. by Survios. As a company, we take pride in providing unique opportunities for talented individuals.”

One of the first games that 2124 will release is Romancelvania: BATchelor’s Curse, developed by The Deep End Games. It’s a Metroidvania role-playing game starring monsters like zombies and witches. Gamers will play as Drac, male or female. And Romancelvania doesn’t have an official release date yet.

Roblox revenue soars thanks to mods created by gamers inspired by “Squid Game”

Although there is no word on a game project that will have a movie-like genre, a Roblox player has created a new type of game mod that has a mechanism to recreate scenes from this year’s hottest Netflix movies.

Since Netflix’s survival series “Squid Game” became an overnight hit, online sandbox game Roblox, discreetly launched the service through a partnership with Tencent in China on July, started to get more attention in this country.

Last week, quite a few video clips of a mod inspired by the movie “Squid Game” on Roblox were spread and widely discussed on various social networking platforms, including Xiaohongshu (also known as Xiaohongshu). Red for international users), Weibo and WeChat.

Although the original version developed by Trendsetter Games is not open to Roblox users in the Chinese market, a similar version called Xianyu Game has quickly become an alternative for Chinese users who are looking for an alternative. want to experience the survival game recreated from the global hit Korean drama.

The Xianyu Game introduction post posted by the game streamer “Baby 斯斯” on Xiaohongshu has received 4896 likes and 131 comments so far, and other related posts have also been widely discussed.

As a big name in the US and most western countries, Roblox is little known in China, so a lot of people said on social media that this was the first time they knew about Roblox and asked how to download it. Download the Chinese version to access the game.

With 43.2 million DAUs worldwide, Roblox is an online gaming platform and game creation system popular among teenagers under the age of 18. The company generates revenue by selling Robux, an in-game virtual currency that can be used to purchase virtual items and upgrade avatars.

Through a joint venture with Chinese gaming giant Tencent, Roblox entered China, one of the largest online gaming markets, for the first time in 2019. The San Mateo-based company holds 51% controlling stake in the partnership, while Tencent affiliate Songhua holds the remaining shares.

Establishing joint ventures with Chinese companies is a standardized approach for foreign businesses to enter this emerging market because the country has strict regulations on foreign investment. Meanwhile, with the participation of the Chinese side, foreign capital can better understand and comply with the changing policies and environment of the country.

Even Roblox founder and CEO Dave Baszucki says Tencent is the perfect partner for his company in China. The CEO explains: “They have a deep understanding of the Chinese market and share our belief in the power of digital innovation and our vision to bring the world together through through the game.

However, as China has increased its control of the gaming industry in recent months and banned people under 18 from playing video games more than three hours a week, “perfect cooperation” has also suffered. The fewer hours people spend playing the game, the less opportunity there is for Roblox to earn revenue.

Besides, awareness of the concept of “ learning from gaming ” that Tencent promotes when marketing Roblox is still relatively weak among Chinese parents, which slows its growth in the region.

“ Although Chinese parents are known to be generous in investing in the next generation’s education, the truth is that most of them are not ready, ” said Catherine, a teacher at a private primary school in Beijing. ready for your child to learn from video games ”. “ Children can become completely addicted to playing the game instead of learning from it, because the line between learning and entertainment is blurred, ” she explains .

Catherine told PingWest that when it comes to things related to video games, even Roblox, a platform that can inspire kids to learn to code and make boring subjects more engaging. , most of the parents expressed distrust. “ In my experience, it could have something to do with the industry that parents are in, parents working for internet companies being more open to Roblox and encouraging their kids to use it. In general, I feel that Roblox’s presence is relatively low, and Minecraft is more known to parents and children ”.

According to a report by analyst – Daniel Ahmad (also known in the gaming community as ZhugeEx), in November 2020, Minecraft surpassed 400 million registered users in Mainland China. Roblox did not disclose how many players it has in China, but said that of its 43.2 million DAUs, 7.2 million are from Asia-Pacific, representing about 17%. teachers interviewed with PingWest that Roblox cooperates with several schools in Beijing, pushing teachers and students to develop game-like learning programs based on its platform to make the learning process more enjoyable. should be more interesting. “ This concept is very appealing, but it may take longer to be widely accepted, ” said one teacher.

Currently, with very few games available, the recently launched Roblox China ranks below 20 in the Apple Store adventure games category, which is not what was expected. But in terms of building a content-based community that requires a long-term investment, the ratings are reasonable. At a time when the gaming industry is under a lot of pressure, winning the support of Chinese parents may not be easy, but Roblox has really seen the rise of Chinese developers. Country after entering this country.

Livetopia, an open world game developed by Shanghai-based Century Makers, has been a trending game on Roblox for a while. “ We’re starting to see great content coming out of China and starting to hit the global platform… We’ve got a very big vision in China, ” the Roblox CEO said on the latest earnings call. .

Involves partnering with universities and college students to attract and train more game developers, thereby expanding the community. “ Working with universities and students is a top priority for future growth, ” said Duan Zhiyuan, Vice President of Roblox China, as the company aims to use Roblox to help the next generation. embracing new technology, including Metaverse, the most valuable company.