nDreams

nDreams, Ltd. is a company that develops and publishes video games.[2] It is located in Farnborough, Hampshire in the United Kingdom.[3] The company was formed in August 2006 by former SCi and Eidos creative director, Patrick O'Luanaigh.[2] Since formation, the developer has worked on numerous projects for different video game platforms, most notably PlayStation Home, the virtual world on Sony's PlayStation 3 console, where they grew to become one of the leading publishers.[4] From late 2013 nDreams began working on content for virtual reality (VR) headsets, such as Sony's PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR.[5] They are developing VR games for these including Gunner and The Assembly, along with non-gaming VR experiences such as Perfect Beach.[6] nDreams has stated that they are now entirely focused on developing content for virtual reality.[7]

nDreams
Video Game Developer
IndustryVideo game
FoundedAugust 2006[1]
HeadquartersFarnborough, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Key people
Patrick O'Luanaigh
ProductsXi
PlayStation Home content
Facebook games/apps
Websitewww.ndreams.com

Virtual reality

Since 2013, nDreams has focused on developing content for virtual reality headsets.[8]

The first game released by nDreams for virtual reality was the tech demo SkyDIEving, which launched in 2013.[9] This saw players freefalling through the sky until they inevitably crashed to their doom on the ground. Patrick O'Luanaigh stated that nDreams had seen "fantastic" reaction to SkyDIEving since it was released in 2013 and the demo received many plaudits.[10]

In June 2014 at the E3 video game show nDreams announced The Assembly, which is planned for release on the Oculus Rift and Sony PlayStation VR headsets.[11] The Assembly is an adventure game where you uncover the morally dubious secrets of an unknown scientific organisation from the perspective of two different characters.[12]

Following the announcement of the Samsung Gear VR headset in September 2014, nDreams announced two titles that would be released for the headset.[13] Gunner is a video game where the player wields a gun turret in outer space, shooting down the incoming enemy spacecraft.[14] Perfect Beach is a relaxation experience where users sit on a tropical beach and take in vistas or listen to the meditation track.[15] A demo for Gunner released in January 2015 on the Oculus Home store for the Samsung Gear VR headset.[16] Full products of both Gunner and Perfect Beach are due to release in early 2015.[17]

In December 2014 nDreams announced a new partnership with VR filmmakers Virtual View Productions.[18] The partnership would allow them to explore the crossover between VR video games and movies.

nDreams has previously stated they also have other products in development for virtual reality headsets.[19] They have also stated they are focused entirely on developing content for VR devices.[19]

VRFocus.com

In early 2014, nDreams launched a consumer website focused on virtual reality called VRFocus.[20] This is run on an independent basis and was founded by editor-in-chief, Kevin Joyce.[21]

In February 2016, VRFocus launched VRTV, a fortnightly web show presented by Zeena Al-Obaidi.

PlayStation Home

nDreams claimed to be one of the world's leading independent developers and publishers in PlayStation Home, the virtual world on Sony's PlayStation 3 console.[22] The company created numerous games, virtual spaces and items for the platform between 2009 and 2014.[23]

The first project created by nDreams for PlayStation Home was the world's first console-based and virtual world-based alternate reality game, Xi.[2] Xi was released on March 23, 2009 and lasted a total of 12 weeks, taking place within PlayStation Home, across the web and in the real world.[2]

nDreams next project for Home was a personal space called "The Pirate Galleon Apartment" which also released in 2009. This was the European Home's first personal space to have a mini-game with prizes.[24] In 2010, nDreams released another personal space called "Musicality".[25] In this space users could play a multiplayer music game.[26]

In 2011, nDreams released a new game space called "Aurora" where PlayStation Home users can visit and play various mini games, receive rewards and hang out with fellow users.[27] Aurora has had over 18 million visits from 1.8 million unique players, making it nDreams' most successful project in PlayStation Home.[28]

nDreams also created numerous virtual items for use on a player's avatar as well as many more spaces.[29]

PlayStation Home closed 31 March 2015.[30] At the time the closure was announced nDreams stated they would continue to release additional content ahead of the closure of the platform.[31] On reflection of PlayStation Home's success, CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh stated that PlayStation Home "was a commercial success" for nDreams.[32]

Other projects

In early 2008, nDreams completed a short piece of work on a project called iStories. It is a PC educational tool that allows users to create linear or interactive stories by piecing together images, sound and text.[33]

A screenshot of Venus Redemption.
  • Venus Redemption was an episodic video game that was in development by nDreams. The game was to cater primarily to a female audience around 30 years of age. It was to be released for Microsoft Windows, Mac, iPhone, Wii, and web browsers, but the game was put on hold while nDreams focused on other projects.[34] The game was planned to be dialogue-heavy with a large mix of content with cutscenes, non-interactive in-game sequences, comic strip storytelling, and in-game conversations to develop the plot. Players would have needed to gather clues to solve puzzles, play bejeweled style mini-games and slide puzzles to complete the game. At the end of the season, players would have eventually taken down Keane Global Developments and solve the mystery behind their corporate motives.[35] The story was being written by Kate Pullinger, with help from comic book writer Gordon Rennie, the music was to be composed by Tim Wright, and it was to be directed by Robin Shepperd.[36] The first season of the game was to be composed of six ninety-minute episodes, and they were to be released on either a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. It was being developed with the Unity engine.[35] After a great response to an early demo, Venus Redemption was put on hold while nDreams focused on other projects, such as PlayStation Home and other third party projects.[37] It was initially announced in 2009, but no further updates on its status have been released as of July 29, 2020.
  • Project Y is currently in development for mobile phones running Android and iOS.[38] It features a highly unique funding model and is a lifestyle application.
  • Friday Town is a groundbreaking new social game created through a partnership between Cadbury Crunchie and nDreams for Facebook. The game invites players into a virtual world, called Friday Town, and challenges them to help its inhabitants brighten up their lives with a series of puzzles that will unfold over the coming weeks and months.[39]
  • Spirit of Adventure is the first ever soap opera on Facebook. It combines a compelling tale and strong characters with a variety of puzzles to create a unique narrative-driven Facebook experience.[40]
  • StreetDance 3D, a Facebook app, is the first collaborative project between nDreams and Vertigo Films, and is an action-packed dance game inspired by the movie. The game features motion-captured dance moves (recorded at Pinewood Studios) and music from the film.[41]
  • Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life is nDreams's second alternate reality game. It was not based in PlayStation Home like Xi was. The ARG was created for Reebok, who also co-developed the game. Wired called it 'one of the most engaging, interactive, and exciting games of 2010.'[42] The game launched in March 2010 and ran until November 2010, with over 637,000 players from 154 countries taking part. They worked together to solve puzzles and complete tests online, on mobiles and in the real world. Live events took place across the globe including tasks in Spain, Lebanon, Malaysia, India and the UK. The game was run in nine languages (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Turkish and Korean), which Guinness acknowledged as a world record for a game of this type in 2013.[43]

Funding

In January 2015, nDreams announced a $2.75 million investment from Mercia Technologies.[44] This investment is planned to allow the studio to expand and invest in research and development of virtual reality games.[45] One of Mercia's leaders, former Sega CEO Mike Hayes, joined the nDreams board of directors in 2014.[46]

Awards and nominations
  • 2008: Develop "Hot companies to look out for"
  • 2009: Edge Magazine 'XI project for PlayStation Home"[47]
  • 2009: Develop Award "Best New Studio" nominee.[48]
  • 2010: Develop Award "Business Development" nominee.[49]
  • 2010: Kemp Little Innovation Award "Outstanding Business innovation" nominee
  • 2011: Develop Award "Business Development" nominee[50]
  • 2011: Smarta 100 Awards Winner[51]
  • 2012: Inspire "Online Excellence" Award Winner[52]
  • 2014: Santander "Breakthrough 50" Winner[53]
  • 2014: Tiga Awards "Independent Studio" nominee[54]
  • 2019: Viveport Developer Award "Arcade - PC" for Shooty Fruity Arcade[55]
  • 2019: Game Critics Award "Best VR/AR Game" for Phantom: Covert Ops[56]
gollark: Their products also don't actually seem to be particularly good.
gollark: Eventually.
gollark: AMD... does not do this.
gollark: Nvidia push CUDA adoption by having a pretty good AI research team make things which indirectly use CUDA.
gollark: Inertia, and it actually works and Nvidia makes useful things with it.

References
  1. Jenkins, David (2009-08-25). "Eidos Exec Forms New nDreams Studio". Gamasutra.
  2. "About us" – via nDreams.
  3. "Contact". Archived from the original on 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2016-08-02 – via nDreams.
  4. "PLAYSTATION®HOME". Archived from the original on November 17, 2013 – via nDreams.
  5. "nDreams invites Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus to attend The Academy".
  6. "nDreams Announces Gunner and Perfect Beach for Gear VR - VRFocus".
  7. "Working with Virtual Worlds: nDreams Dev Diary #1 - VRFocus".
  8. "Designing for VR - Dos and Don'ts from nDreams". 11 July 2014.
  9. Gera, Emily (13 August 2013). "Now you can virtually skydive using nDreams' experimental Oculus Rift demo".
  10. "nDreams to Release New Version of SkyDIEving - VRFocus".
  11. ""THE ASSEMBLY" MAKES WAVES AT E3". Archived from the original on August 21, 2014 – via nDreams.
  12. "nDreams Announces The Assembly for Project Morpheus & Oculus Rift - VRFocus".
  13. MIKAEL VON STROOT (September 3, 2014). "VR Developer nDreams Announce Two Titles For Samsung Gear VR". Archived from the original on September 4, 2014 – via nDreams.
  14. "GUNNER". Archived from the original on January 13, 2015 – via nDreams.
  15. "PERFECT BEACH". Archived from the original on September 6, 2014 – via nDreams.
  16. "nDreams Launches Gunner Demo for Gear VR - VRFocus".
  17. "nDreams announces Gunner and Perfect Beach for Samsung Gear VR".
  18. "nDreams and Virtual View Productions to Explore VR Videogames and Movie Crossovers - VRFocus".
  19. "nDreams working on six VR projects".
  20. "Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games".
  21. "Contact Us - VRFocus".
  22. Nouch, James (8 November 2013). "The story of PlayStation Home".
  23. "VR titles" – via nDreams.
  24. Marie, Kassadee. "Go nDreams on a Budget". HomeStation Magazine. Archived from the original on September 16, 2012.
  25. "Musicality Apartment". AlphaZone4. Archived from the original on 2015-04-01.
  26. "PlayStation Home Update: Jam in the Musicality Clubhouse".
  27. "nDreams launches the Aurora space in PlayStation Home - Gamesbrief". 23 March 2011.
  28. "PlayStation Home memories".
  29. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-30. Retrieved 2015-01-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  30. Tassi, Paul. "Sony Finally Shutting Down PlayStation Home On PS3".
  31. https://www.facebook.com/ndreamers/posts/10152735474549907
  32. Martin, Michael (30 September 2014). "PlayStation Home Was a Commercial Success".
  33. "iStories on sale". nDreams. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04.
  34. "nDreams and the Female Goldmine". edge-online.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-05.
  35. "E3 2009: Venus Redemption Details". IGN.
  36. "nDreams announces Venus Redemption". GameSpot.
  37. "Venus Redemption". Archived from the original on 2010-09-26. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  38. "Project Y". nDreams. Archived from the original on 2009-04-18. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
  39. "Crunchie Friday Town". Archived from the original on 2010-09-26. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  40. "Facebook's first interactive soap opera launches". Archived from the original on 2010-09-26. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  41. "nDreams and Vertigo Films announce StreetDance 3D Facebook game". Archived from the original on 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  42. "F1 Racer Plays International Art Thief in ARG".
  43. "Image of the Guinness World Record certificate".
  44. "NDREAMS COMPLETES $2.75 MILLION INVESTMENT". Archived from the original on 2015-05-11 – via nDreams.
  45. "Portfolio – Mercia Technologies".
  46. "Mike Hayes joins virtual reality firm nDreams". Archived from the original on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
  47. "Edge Magazine - GamesRadar+".
  48. "Rockstar leads Develop Awards nominations". Archived from the original on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
  49. "Develop Awards: The 2010 winners list".
  50. "Independent developers dominate Develop Awards".
  51. "Smarta 100 Awards 2011: WINNERS ANNOUNCED! - Smarta Business Builder".
  52. "nDreams wins Online Excellence award!". x-libris.eu. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013.
  53. "nDreams Ltd". Archived from the original on August 13, 2014.
  54. "TIGA Games Industry Awards 2012 – Winners". Archived from the original on March 19, 2013.
  55. "Third Annual Viveport Developer Awards Winners Announced". VIVE Blog. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  56. "Game Critics Awards". www.gamecriticsawards.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
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