Former Sony VR developer and head of Sony’s London Studios David Ranyard who previously worked on the PlayStation VR as well as VR Worlds has announced his new independent development studio – Dream Reality Interactive.
“With the availability of a range of VR headsets the question is no longer IF virtual reality will be successful, it is WHEN and most importantly, HOW? None of us really knows the answer but after a fantastic 17 years at Sony, now feels like the right time to explore the possibilities. Going independent allows me to work across all platforms and that’s very liberating,” said Ranyard.
David Ranyard is joined at Dream Reality Interactive by former Sony London teammates Richard Bates, Artemis Tsouflidou, Albert Bentall and John Foster, who all worked on the development of VR Worlds for the PSVR.
While the new studio is now working on several prototypes and projects in partnership with publishers and IP holders across a variety of VR platforms, the long term goal for the studio is to create its own new IP for VR. According to an interview with gamesindustry.biz, Ranyard mentions that he plans to start out with mobile VR and digital titles before moving on to bigger IP.
He also notes that their first IP may or not be directly gaming related but will definitely be small and will be on mobile. Ranyard claims that mobile will eventually blow up and become the dominant platform for VR and developers just need to find the killer app that will have an experience that will make users keep coming back for more.
After spending almost two decades with Sony, Ranyard left the company last year right before the PSVR was launched. He noted in the interview that his decision to leave before the PSVR was released was due to practicality as he wanted to begin building the new studio while there were still many potential investors.
