Stealth Bastard developer Curve Digital brings in VR specialist as new studio head

Indie studio Curve Digital is aiming to take on the virtual reality market, and that has it bringing in new talent.

The developer announced today that it has appointed former Sony Interactive Entertainment London Studios executive producer Brynley Gibson as its new head of studios. In that position, Gibson will oversee game production at Curve and its Zöe Mode and Headstrong Games subsidiaries. The new studio head will use his expertise in making VR games to push the company into that business. SuperData Research analysts predict VR could generate as much as $40 billion in revenues by 2020, and Curve is one of a number of studios trying to get in on that early.

“I’m delighted to take up the new role, heading up Curve Digital Entertainment  Studios,” said Gibson. “It’s an incredibly exciting time and I’m very happy to be a part of this fast-moving business.”

Gibson comes to Curve from Sony where he produced the PlayStation VR launch game PlayStation VR Worlds that debuted October 13. That minigame collection brought together a number of short-form VR experiences to show the capabilities of Sony’s headset.

Prior to that, Gibson has also worked at developers like Lionhead Studios and Headstrong Games where he contributed to the beloved Hollywood sim The Movies and the strategy action adventure Battalion Wars 2 for Nintendo’s Wii console.

“Brynley’s experience in producing million-selling and critically-acclaimed games is second to none,” Curve Digital chief executive Dominic Wheatley said in a statement. “In addition, his more recent successes in VR means that we are in an excellent position to provide cutting-edge development services in this fast-moving, cutting-edge space.”

In addition to original games, Curve has worked on porting software for other companies. It was responsible for bringing games like puzzle-platformer The Swapper to PC and shooter Velocity Ultra to PlayStation 3. Now, the company wants to fill a similar work-for-hire niche in VR, and it is charging Gibson with leading that effort.