Devs Behind ‘Max Payne’ and ‘Quantum Break’ Form New VR House, ‘3rd Eye Studios’

3rd Eye Studios is a new VR developer team formed from Remedy Entertainment alum and they’re working on a new, original made-for-VR anthology inspired by 70’s sci-fi television shows. Here’s an exclusive first look at some of the first art for the game.

As we’ve charted the growth of the VR industry over the years, one thing that was obvious from the beginning was that the creative opportunities offered by this new entertainment paradigm, seemed to have an almost bewitching effect on a generation of developers who’d grown up with virtual reality as a dream gaming platform. As a result, we’ve written many stories covering the defection of triple-A gaming talent from traditional games to startups focusing on VR.

The latest group of games industry stalwarts to do so hail from Remedy Entertainment, and although it’s my job to tell you who they are, should you not already know, shame on you! If the studio itself isn’t familiar, then it’s very likely its creations are. Remedy have been behind the likes of Max Payne, Alan Wake and more recently Quantum Break. Remedy built a name for themselves creating original, quirky yet accessible titles which resonated with many. Max Payne, for example, blended the purest of slow motion action violence with a film noir tone and narrative style – a seemingly bizarre combination which somehow worked perfectly.

And now, key members of Remedy are setting up shop on their own, chasing the allure of immersive entertainment. 3rd Eye Studios is a new team aiming to focus on development for VR platforms based out of Helsinki and their CEO Kari Koivistoinen, a 15 year veteran of the games industry, isn’t shy about revealing the level of the team’s ambitions either. “This team have huge passion to develop the first real blockbuster game for VR and take it to mainstream,” Koivistoinen tells us. “3rd Eye Studios really wants to unleash the real potential of VR gaming, take the immersiveness and social gaming to the next level, bring innovation and true native VR game to the market.”

3rd Eye Studios are deep in development on the first instalment in their new VR anthology which Koivistoinen says will draw inspiration from the likes of The Twighlight Zone and, more recently, Black Mirror. Downward Spiral is described as “an epic journey” with a “distinct style” and, intriguingly “gunpowder smelling action”. You can take a look at the never-before-seen poster artwork to the right to catch a glimpse at the title’s tone.

Alongside Downward Spiral, which 3rd Eye claim will feature co-op gameplay, the team are building modding tools for the community at large to get their hands on, and plan to license key development tools to other studios looking to develop for VR.

As a huge fan of Max Payne myself, I’m excited to see what a team with such a pedigree can come up with in VR. We’ll let you know when we learn more.