Starbreeze invests $750K in VR/AR studio
Freeform Labs is based in Santa Monica, working on VR title ElemenTerra
Swedish developer and publisher Starbreeze is investing $750,000 in an interactive VR/AR company based in Santa Monica, Freeform Labs. Freeform is currently at work on its first title, ElemenTerra, and Starbreeze will claim 50 per cent of royalties for the lifetime of the game and 50 per cent ownership of the IP.
"In our continued pursuit to further advance and evolve in our understanding of virtual reality, we've cast a wide net, encompassing several areas; our hardware initiative in the StarVR HMD, developing our own VR experiences as well as in our role as a publisher for other VR centric content producers. We especially acknowledge the importance of research and a young fresh point of view as the industry is collectively exploring an entirely new medium" said CEO Bo Andersson Klint.
"We especially recognize the work done by Freeform Labs and have followed their progress since graduating out of USC Games & Animation. We are very excited to bring the team on board into our publishing initiative and to be able to assist in realizing the great vision they have for ElemenTerra."
Freeform was founded in September 2015 by Max Pittsley, Camille Kanengiser and Ian Donahue. The three will be based in Starbreeze's LA offices.
"We're approaching VR world-building in a unique way that we believe is best suited to foster a prosperous community for everyone who loves to create or explore" added CEO Pittsley.
"We couldn't have asked for a better publisher to partner with for ElemenTerra. Starbreeze's approach to VR is not only extremely innovative, but realistic and practical at the same time. We're excited to work with Starbreeze to make VR world-building fun and social."
Starbreeze launched its publishing efforts in May 2015.
"We're taking the classic 'developer and publisher' model and throwing it out the window," said Klint in May.
"I see Starbreeze as a catalyst for talented developers and digital publishing, particularly on Steam, where we are off to a flying start with our Payday franchise."