2016 at Survios: The Year in Review
When 2016 started, the stakes were high as VR was poised to finally hit the mainstream with the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and PSVR all making their way into eager early adopters’ hands. It was also the year that all of us at Survios, after three years of crunching hard in research and development, would finally bring our first game, Raw Data, to consumers.
Right from the start, 2016 was Survios’ craziest, busiest, and most incredible year to date. We asked the entire Survios family to share their favorite memories and moments from the past 366 days (leap year!), and now we welcome you to join us on our retrospective journey of development, discovery, and dreams!
“Survios truly values each and every employee, and does its best to grow everyone.” – Michael Festa, Business Development Manager
“Honestly, I’m just happy to be here. Everyone here has been so welcoming and nice. It’s been an absolute delight.” – Chris Thompson, Producer
January 2016
At the VRLA Winter Expo on January 23, Survios unveiled Raw Data to the public for the first time, where it quickly became the show’s must-play demo for its crazy-physical Active VR gameplay. With four interchangeable weapons, players latched onto the energy katana as their weapon of choice–fitting, since Saija is still the most popular hero!
We also hosted a livestreamed after-party featuring emcee Malik Forte, plus a DJ, food truck, slo-mo video booth, and (of course) four Vive playspaces for everyone to get their Raw Data badass on.
March 2016
Survios goes to Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco as part of the show’s expansive VR showcase. Rick & Morty creator (and Squanchtendo founder) Justin Roiland even picked up a VR bow and came face to face with the bots. Raw Data also picked up its first official accolades, including “Best VR Game of GDC 2016” from Tom’s Guide.
“The impact of what we’d accomplished didn’t start to sink in until I started helping with Raw Data demos it at shows. Seeing people’s faces light up and hearing their exclamations of pure joy as they play never gets old, even a year (and hundreds of demos) later.” – Lauren Irvine, Content Strategist
But how did we top GDC? By then heading to Boston for PAX East, our initial outing with our awesome friends at Intel. At Intel’s #VRReady-themed booth, hundreds of hardcore gamers got their first taste of VR through Raw Data’s co-op experience, and Raw Data got a test drive with mainstream gamers–and, even after a two-hour wait, they loved it.
April 2016
How do pro gamers handle VR? League of Legends champs Team SoloMid stopped by Survios to do battle in Active VR. They also challenged each other to 1v1 flash blade duels to see who was the true VR master.
May 2016
As we were busy gearing up for E3, Survios had another big event on its hands: a move to a brand-new office. Although it was only a couple miles down the road, the expansive space could better accommodate our rapidly growing teams, with space for multiple private demo and testing pods, a streaming studio, and more!
“The regular town halls where the leaders of the company explain their plans for direction and growth show that they’ve put a lot of thought into how Survios should be shaped going forward.” – Shane Kneip, Audio Contractor
And with room for everyone (and then some), we finally had the real estate to host frequent all-company gatherings both professional and social. So much room for activities!
“I think for me the greatest moments come at night. When we’re all just sitting around, talking about our passions and making each other laugh. That kind of honesty is rare in a corporate environment.” – Jonathan Callan, Senior Writer
“My favorite memories? Hanging out in the evenings after work! The vibe of Survios after hours is always really great.” – Daniel Xiao, Art Director
Oh, and it has a pretty sweet patio with couches and firepits, perfect for meetings both formal and informal.
June 2016
Raw Data again hit the event circuit, this time pulling double-duty as part of both Indiecade and HTC Vive at E3! (Meanwhile, down the street at the Omni Hotel, we were also busy giving press their first look at the polished Early Access incarnation.)
And six months after partying with the VRLA crowd, we “officewarmed” our new home Indiecade’s crazy-fun afterparty featuring multiple VR demos on both Vive and Oculus.
July 2016
It was the moment we’d worked so hard for three years to experience: on July 14, Raw Data officially launched on Steam Early Access. The entire team huddled in anticipation as cofounder and CCO James Iliff pressed the button, then celebrated as Raw Data rocketed to the top of Steam’s global bestseller list–the first VR game to do so–and became the fastest-selling VR game on the platform.
“The entire team was standing around a TV with our live user count updating every second. We hit 100 users within the first hour! Then 200! I think we broke 300 by that afternoon. Seeing the record broken for most VR users online at a single time was a truly exciting experience, and it felt so good to see the entire team so excited after our long race to the finish line.” – Chris Donley, Producer
“My mind was blown on Early Access launch day watching players stream our game on Twitch. It was a feeling of extreme satisfaction watching people have fun with product we provided them.” – Garner Knutson, Sound Designer
But that was far from the end: before the month was out, we’d launch a content update that gave Bishop and Saija new abilities and added flashlights to the Dark Source mission, a community request that we took to heart. We’ve been reliant on our community’s awesome feedback for game improvement since!
August 2016
Summer wound down, but Raw Data only heated up with Update 0.3, which introduced the first new mission since launch: Nuke Fusion. A whole new multi-level environment designed to utilize defenses, it also included the first boss (no, not that one!) in the Mega Dynamo.
“The summer internship was a blast. We all shared a common energy which fueled our various projects and responsibilities which made them fun and exciting.” – Lauren Lehmann, Contract Artist (and former intern)
We also bid farewell to the amazing game development interns who spent the summer with us learning the ins and outs of creating immersive experiences for VR–including creating their own game demo–but it wasn’t all sad. Several of them have since returned and are working on our games teams!
September 2016
It was time for the big daddy of gaming shows: PAX West. Our first event since Early Access launch, we once again partnered with Intel to bring Raw Data and VR to the gaming masses, this time with a fresh new demo featuring heroes Bishop and Saija. A huge playspace setup with GoPros and in-game footage on big screens kept excited gamers entertained during the long wait, but once again, the feedback said it all: “That was so amazing!”
“Watching people sign on to the newly launched Survios Matchfinding Platform was the best. I loved seeing people get a taste of what we’re building. And we’ve got a lot more to come!” – Terrance Cohen, VP of Platform
We also unveiled our in-game social Matchfinding platform, designed to help Raw Data players find their friends, set up matches, and communicate via both voice and body language. We tested it when a few devs hopped in, including a lucky player who teamed up with CEO Nate Burba!
October 2016
The Boss has entered the game. On October 12, Update 0.4 came to Raw Data, and it expanded our dynamic duo to a thrilling trio with the addition of Boss, the Street Merc. Players clamoring for the explosive shotgun since the early demo days finally got their firepower with Raw Data’s most badass hero yet. It also opened up two challenging new missions, Extermination and Thundershock, which answered the age-old question: “Do you know what happens to a robot when it’s struck by lasers/lightning?” Answer: they get way more powerful, so you’d better be ready to shoot them in the face!
Naturally for an office full of nerds, our favorite holiday is Halloween, and it wouldn’t be right to let October go by without this perfect excuse for a team-building exercise. So we all headed off to Knott’s Scary Farm where, after some of Mrs. Knott’s famous chicken dinners, we braved the haunted mazes and duked out creative differences in bumper-car battles.
November 2016
Raw Data down under! Continuing our PAX grand tour, we travelled outside the States and ventured way south for PAX Australia with Intel. There, we encountered not only some super friendly and fun Aussies, but also Raw Data cosplayers!
“Sharing Thanksgiving with everybody was great. I enjoyed seeing how much the team has grown just in the last few months and how well everyone gets along.” – Jonathan Ratcliff, Software Engineer
With the holiday season right around the corner, we brought the Survios family together for our own take on Friendsgiving. A delicious lunch of turkey with all the trimmings got everyone in the warm holiday spirit (although turkey coma might have contributed to a bit of reduced productivity)!
December 2016
On December 13, we announced the record-breaking results of our Series C funding round, including an exciting partnership with MGM and the launch of a publishing initiative to help fellow VR developers realize their dreams.
“With all the big players releasing their headsets, each with their own unique strengths, this is an interesting (and busy) time to be a developer.” – Junichi Kimura, Build and Release Engineer
And just two days later, Raw Data Update 0.5–a massive performance-focused update drawn from community bug reports and profiling logs–landed on Steam, and brought with it a holiday surprise: new dialogue, environmental elements, and music to start building out Raw Data’s story. We can’t wait to share more of the narrative driving Raw Data with everyone, but we hope you enjoy these first tastes of the true nature of your mission into Eden Corp.
We capped off an incredible year with a holiday party in our new office space: “Walking in a VR Wonderland,” featuring a DJ, dinner, dancing, and dogs. We welcomed our families to celebrate together with the Survios family as we toasted 2016’s accomplishments, while anticipating the breakthroughs 2017 will surely bring both at Survios and within the entire VR industry.
2017: What’s Next?!
“Every day is a blast jamming on VR development–there’s always something new and memorable!” – James Iliff, Cofounder and Chief Creative Officer
Looking back, we can confidently say that 2016 was the year VR proved its worth and Survios came into its own, but there’s still so much untapped potential that we think “the year” is yet to come. We are seriously stoked to see where 2017 takes us, and we’re excited to have you along for the ride. Thank you so much for your continued support of Survios, and we’ll see you next year!
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but let’s keep moving f***ing fast!” – Robert Nashak, Chief Operating Officer