Remedy vets shift to VR with 3rd Eye Studios

Two veterans of Remedy Entertainment have founded a new VR developer, 3rd Eye Studios, in Helsinki, Finland.

3rd Eye's founding team includes Kari Koivistoinen and Kari Huttunen, who most recently worked at Remedy Entertainment as producer and senior environment artist respectively. Koivistoinen, who was producer on Quantum Break, is the company's CEO, and Huttunen is lead artist.

The two other founders are Arja Johansson, who spent more than ten years at the Finnish retail co-op SOK, and Tapio Vierros, who was previously lead programmer at Bugbear Entertainment. Johansson will be 3rd Eye's head of operations, and Vierros will be lead programmer.

Speaking to UploadVR, Koivistoinen spoke of the team's collective desire to "quit your safe day job and follow your dreams" after witnessing the emergence of high-end VR devices like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Indeed, those devices will be the target platforms for 3rd Eye's first game, though Koivistoinen said, "we're keeping our eyes on a few other platforms as well."

The company's first project is an anthology series called Downward Spiral. According to Koivistoinen, "Each episode will offer a unique VR experience different to the one before it, like Twilight Zone and Black Mirror TV series... It's a true native VR game which can be played in online co-op."

In addition to that intriguing pitch, 3rd Eye is also developing tools for making and modding VR games, "easier, faster and more reliably."