To get the most from virtual reality, you’ll need a $900 computer and an $800 headset. That’s a lot of money. But, hey — at least some of the games are free.
Developers Squanchtendo and Crows Crows Crows revealed the new VR game Accounting for the HTC Vive headset. The VR experience will have you dealing with the numbers, handling file folders, and invading a crazy tree dream world. It is coming to Steam soon for free. This is the first project from Squanchtendo, which formed recently to work on humorous VR experiences.
Small, inexpensive (or free) experiences like Accounting are popular in VR right now. The technology is so new and expensive that it is a small market that can’t support major investments like blockbuster games with enormous budgets (yet). Instead, companies like Squanchtendo and Crows Crows Crows are leading a wave of experimentation that is laying the ground work for future iterations of VR headsets that are more affordable for mainstream consumers. And that could pay off for these early pioneers as analysts predict that VR could turn into a $40 billion business by 2020.
You can see the bizarre simulation in action in the trailer below — although, I don’t know if it’s fair to call it bizarre. Maybe this is exactly what accounting is like, I’ve never tried it:
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Justin Roiland, cocreator of Adult Swim’s animated, Twilight Zone-like comedy Rick and Morty, oversaw the creative side of the project as chief creative officer at Squanchtendo. He worked with The Stanley Parable designer William Pugh and artist Dominik Johann, both of Crows Crows Crows, to bring accounting to life over the course of a week.
“Accounting emerged from a strange collaborative relationship between both studios,” reads a post on the game’s official website. “The game itself is mostly a product of sticking William, Dom, and Justin in a room for a week. But they had a lot of help from [Squanchtendo’s’] Tanya Watson who handled production and public relations and Sean O’Dowd of Crows Crows Crows who coded from the sunny beaches of Australia.”
You can sign up for an Accounting newsletter on its website, and that will inform you the moment the game goes live on Steam.
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