The makers of Stormland, the Oculus exclusive VR game that is going to be released this year, just partnered with Sony and PlayStation to make exclusive games. Insomniac Games have made hits Edge of Nowhere, The Unspoken, and Feral Rights in their time as a VR developers, and their future continues to look bright. All of those titles have been made for Oculus and exclusive to their headsets, but it seems like these days are going to be numbered.
The studio took to Twitter to break the news, and both sides seem thrilled with the future work relationship. We know the two have worked together in the past for the Spider-Man game that was exclusive to the PlayStation community. Ted Price, the founder of Insomniac games also wrote a blog post about this announcement, saying that “We’ve collaborated with Sony for more than 20 years — spanning all four PlayStation consoles, 20 total games and six franchises. We still work closely today with many of the same Sony teammates as we did when we released the original Spyro the Dragon in 1998.”
He went on to say that “The decision to join forces with Sony extends far beyond familiarity. Our studio vision is to create experiences that have a positive and lasting impact on people’s lives. As we look ahead to our future, we know that joining the WWS family gives us the best opportunities to fully achieve that vision on a much larger scale. Further, we believe that Sony shares a similar vision to positively impact players’ lives, their employees’ lives and the games industry at large.”
If you have been following the studio closely, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the two partnered up for virtual reality titles. Now that Insomniac is a part of PlayStation Worldwide Studios, the games the gaming studio produces will be 100% exclusive to the PlayStation platform, and the PSVR as well. As mentioned before, the gaming studio is still putting the final touches on their Oculus exclusive game that is expected to be released in just a few short months. This new deal won’t stop the game from making its debut on the Rift, but the future beyond that for the game is uncertain.
We are likely to see a PlayStation version of Stormland come out after the deal is finalized, but that all depends on the exact wording of Insomniac’s deal with Oculus. Does Oculus own the game after it is finished in development, or does Oculus simply own the right to it until their deal is up? As the release date for Stormland gets closer, we are sure to get some more answers about the platforms for the game, but for now we are assuming it will debut on the Rift and Rift S, with a PSVR version coming out later in the process.
Stormland is a first-person robot game where you see yourself gardening a lushes green farm before you and your robot friends are literally torn apart. The gameplay after the gardening and the tragedy is very free. You have the ability to run, jump, climb, and even fly across the world to save your friends. Stormland is going to compete for VR Game of The Year when it is finally released, and without a doubt, this is the best game that Insomniac has ever touched.
We expect this deal for Insomniac and Sony to make a huge difference in the gaming industry going forward, and we can expect some fantastic exclusive games to be developed as well. When VRGear receives more information about this deal and the future of Stormland, we will let you know as soon as possible.
