Survios is demonstrating a two-player cooperative virtual reality first-person shooter dubbed Raw Data.
The demo is one of the first to show that VR can be a multiplayer experience, which could be a critical component in making VR take off as a more social experience. VR is expected to be a $30 billion industry by 2020, according to Digi-Capital.
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The Los Angeles company is debuting a demo of the title at the VRLA Winter Expo in Los Angeles today. After the expo, Survios will host a livestreamed VR gaming event on Twitch, where players and VR enthusiasts around the world will get a glimpse into the future of broadcast VR gaming. The event takes place at 8:15 p.m. PST tonight.
“We’re making VR video games that let you play how you always wanted to play: by actually being part of the action. Swinging a sword, deflecting bullets, holstering a gun, drawing a bow — to us, these little, yet super fun, motions are the essence of Active VR,” remarked James Iliff, co-founder and chief creative officer of Survios, in a statement. “At VRLA this weekend, we’re stoked to finally showcase many of the reasons why Active VR is so exciting: full in-game embodiment, multiplayer sessions, and the self-expression and spectatorship that come with livestreaming in virtual reality.”
In Raw Data, two players use an arsenal of weapons and deployable defenses to fight off killer androids attacking from all angles. Players move freely around their own separate, physical play spaces in an immersive experience that will at the same time feel familiar and groundbreaking to people accustomed to shooters high on action. Raw Data is currently still in production; the VRLA version is a playable pre-alpha demo.
The livestream of the post-expo event will be curated by Survios, showing both attendees and viewers on Twitch exactly what is happening both in-game and outside the head-mounted display. The event will be hosted by Malik Forte of Nerdist Industries. The event is sponsored by AMD and also supported by partners VRLA, Alienware, and HTC.