Rapidly-growing, VR-exclusive studio hires Patrick Liu as Head of Publishing.
Swedish VR developer Fast Travel Games today announced they are expanding their business to provide publishing services to other VR game developers. Patrick Liu, a games industry veteran of more than 15 years of experience and most recently Head of Games at Mojang Studios, will head up the publishing arm as Fast Travel’s Head of Publishing.
“We’ve been fully committed to VR since founding the studio in 2016, and in that time we’ve collected experiences, expertise, and connections that are of huge value to smaller VR devs trying to find success in this market,” said Fast Travel Games CEO Oskar Burman, “VR is still a developing medium, and we want to use what we’ve learned and accomplished to contribute to its expansion and help bring more great games to market. ”
As a leading VR-exclusive studio, Fast Travel Games is well-positioned to act as a publishing partner for smaller devs looking to break into the market or grow their businesses. Publishing services include funding, access to first-party platforms, top-tier marketing, and PR, certification processes, quality assurance, storefront optimization, localization, age ratings, music licensing, and more.
Over the past few years, Fast Travel Games has grown exponentially. Driven by the success of its catalog of titles, particularly on the rapidly-growing Oculus Quest platform, Fast Travel has doubled its headcount to nearly 50 employees in the last 12 months. Earlier this year the studio raised $4 million in funding led by Nordic firm Brightly Ventures to bring new games to market. The company’s most recent launch, the critically-acclaimed VR horror game Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife, was among the top titles on the Oculus charts at launch.
“I was thrilled to hear that Fast Travel Games is expanding to offer to publish! It’s a great way to extend the support and connections they have developed over the years to smaller development teams,” said Jenny Nordenborg, CEO of Neat Corporation. “From our experience collaborating with Fast Travel Games on Budget Cuts 2, we can confidently say this is an amazing opportunity for newer studios, and expect to see a few VR hits come out of their publishing arm!”
“Right now we’re experiencing a turning point for VR, with consumer interest growing and technology becoming more accessible than ever before, due in no small part to the success of Oculus Quest and Quest 2 ” Burman continued. “While we will continue to develop and publish games on all major platforms, Quest has changed the game. For our most recent launch, Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife, Quest has accounted for 90% of sales since launch. VR gaming will only continue to grow and expand, and we look forward to working with other developers to bring their visions to life on Quest and all VR platforms.”
