PlayStation is one of our smallest user bases because there are not many PSVRs floating around compared to the number of Oculus Rifts or Valve Indexes. "This was something that we were gunning for at the time. When speaking about how it became a PlayStation VR 2 launch game, she suggests the studio releasing Zenith for Sony's first headset last year likely played a part. If something is unclear in your game, they'll push back and say isn't obvious to the player that they need to do something here or this is very misleading."įrazier continues, "I think it's a good because it means that they're involved in the content, and they want to keep it to AAA-minimum-like standard." "They have standards for frame rates and the types of bugs that are acceptable. So you're going back and forth with a developer relations representative," the executive says. "Oculus and Sony have approval requirements. Zenith is available on the Oculus Quest 2, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR2, and SteamVR, and she explains that launching across platforms offered its unique hurdles. A lot of people focused on the VR side of just because the market is small." "So the biggest hurdle was two risky ideas that people are already on the fence about. " MMOs, you don't need to convince people that are a thing you just have to convince them that yours is good," she says. " MMOs, you don't need to convince people that are a thing you just have to convince them that yours is good" A lot of investors have been burned by the first round of VR that didn't quite pan out."įrazier adds that Ramen VR first had to convince investors that its concept for Zenith was reasonable and something that the team could pull off. So, by doing both of them together, many investors were very wary. "It was hard because VR and MMO are two of the riskiest things you can do. Zenith was the first game Frazier had ever pitched, and while she might have made it look easy by landing $35 million in funding for the studio last year, she assures us it was anything but. For example, welcoming members of the player base would help newcomers find and pursue quests and eventually try other content within the title. But by default, you're just talking to people".įrazier says these interactions help consumers understand the game's unique experiences. You can also get into a private chat if you have a big guild or a party. So, you just kind of are walking around talking to people. "It's very social we have global voice chat on by default. In fact, the social aspect of traditional MMORPGs is not terribly dissimilar from the metaverse chasers' notion of VR as a place for people to hang out with friends. Playing a VR game with the scale of a traditional MMORPG may sound overwhelming for consumers however, the CTO says the studio has not received that kind of complaint. From different classes to locations and quests, the title has the content one would expect from the genre. To Frazier's point, Zenith remains on a short list of VR games that provide users with an MMORPG experience. But we were thinking, why is no one making an MMO VR title?" So, we had some experience in the VR gaming space, and we knew that the next thing would be the same. She continues, "He and I had worked on a project before. Hack and then more recent programs like Sword Art Online." "It started because and I wanted to make a game based on our upbringing. "It started because and I wanted to make a game based on our upbringing." The studio's chief technical officer and co-founder, Lauren Frazier, sits down with to explain how the Final Fantasy XIV-inspired RPG found a home on different headsets and became a PlayStation VR 2 launch title.įrazier explains that her shared interest in anime with studio co-founder and CEO Andy Tsen sparked the idea for Zenith. Doing all of that when it's also a virtual reality game - as is the case with Ramen VR's Zenith: The Last City - is a constant juggling act, technically and logistically. The feat gets more challenging when it's multiplatform. Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inboxĭeveloping and maintaining an MMO of any size is no easy task for any studio.
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