Leeds, UK, 9th September, 2021 – XR Games today announced that it is joining TIGA; the network for games developers and digital publishers, and the trade association representing the video games industry.
Following a hugely successful six months for the Leeds-based studio, with the release of Zombieland VR: Headshot Fever on Oculus Quest, Rift and Stream, and ahead of a period of exciting growth, it felt like the perfect time for XR Games to join TIGA.
XR Games is internationally recognised amongst only a finite few for leading the way in XR technology. As such, becoming a member of such an integral organisation as TIGA was essential.
Last week it was announced that XR Games has secured $2.1 million (£1.5 million) in funding. Led by Maven Equity Finance with backing from ACT Capital Partners, the investment will allow XR Games to expand the size of the team, focus on original IP, increase work-for-hire opportunities, and develop further research into AR/VR technologies and platforms.
March 2021 saw the successful release of Zombieland VR: Headshot Fever on Oculus Quest and Rift. Since then, Zombieland VR has exceeded sales forecasts, been listed as a ‘Game of the Year’ finalist at the 2021 VR Awards, won ‘Best Video/Audio’ at the NYX Awards, and more.
Zombieland VR was also ported to SteamVR in July 2021, enabling the studio to take full advantage of the power of PC hardware with improved lighting, textures, animations and more. As well as being one of the world’s first games to use OpenXR.
The studio continues to onboard top talent, August saw the headcount rise by 30% and touted the arrival of top talents, from Rockstar, Miniclip, Universally Speaking and more.
Key recent hires include:
- Ross Logan – CFO
Ross was CFO of MiniClip (valued at £275m in 2008, exit to Tencent in 2015), Wooga ($200m+ exit to Playtika), and Kolibri Games (€160m exit to Ubisoft). - Tim Horton – COO
Tim was CCO at Universally Speaking, and helped this game services leader scale from 15 staff to 400+, secure strategic partnerships with tier 1 studios, secure PE investment, as well as leading on increasing revenues by over 600% - Dan Roberts – Art Director
Dan was the Head of Art at Rockstar Games and Activision Blizzard and comes with 20+ years experience as our full time Art Director - Jason McGann
Jason was co-founder of Rockstar Leeds and has now been elevated from Advisor to working in the studio with us on a daily basis as we work through this period of growth.
Later this year Zombieland VR will be coming to Viveport, the game will be available on Chinese headsets, and VR Master League will host the first ever Zombieland VR esports tournament.
Bobby Thandi, CEO of XR Games, explained why it was important to join TIGA: “We are proud to be part of the thriving UK games industry, and the work that TIGA does to support and grow the industry must be commended. As we enter an exciting new chapter at XR Games, we wanted to lean on TIGA and its members to not only support our journey, but to help others and elevate the industry as a whole.”
Dr Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO stated: ““XR Games is a brilliant example of the innovative games developers that underpin the UK’s thriving games industry. As a global leader in XR technology, XR Games is helping to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of the international XR market. TIGA is excited to support XR Games at this pivotal stage in its development and looks forward to powering XR developers forward to the next level.”
About TIGA:
TIGA is the trade association for the UK video games industry. Our core purpose is to strengthen the games development and digital publishing sector. To this end, we focus on four strategic objectives:
- influencing Government policy via effective political representation;
- raising the profile of our industry to influence public policy;
- enhancing education and skills through our accreditation programme (https://tiga.org/education/tiga-university-accreditation) and TIGA Games Education Awards (https://tiga.org/education-awards); and
- promoting best practice through our membership services, including the TIGA STAR Employer Award (https://tiga.org/star) and the TIGA Games Industry Awards (https://tiga.org/awards).
For more information contact TIGA:
Tel: 0845 468 2330
Email: info@tiga.org
Web: www.tiga.org
Twitter: www.twitter.com/tigamovement
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TIGAMovement
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tiga
Links
Zombieland VR on Oculus Quest: https://www.bit.ly/ZLVRoculus
Zombieland VR on Steam: https://www.bit.ly/ZLVRsteam
Zombieland VR on Viveport: https://www.bit.ly/ZLVRviveport
Zombieland VR website: https://www.zombielandvrgame.com
XR Games website: http://www.xrgames.io
XR Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/xrgamesvr
Media Contacts
Tim Horton, COO, XR Games: tim.horton@xrgames.io
Bobby Thandi, Founder and CEO, XR Games: bobby.thandi@xrgames.io
Mat Murray, Head of Marketing, XR Games: mat.murray@xrgames.io