Starbreeze veterans form VR studio First Contact Entertainment

A group of developers formerly of Payday 2 developer Starbreeze have set up their own virtual reality-focused outlet.

First Contact Entertainment is headed up by former Starbreeze LA creative producer Hess Barber, who is joined by 20 of his former colleagues and veterans from other studios including Treyarch, Infinity Ward and Blizzard.

The team will be focused on creating triple-A experiences for VR, based on both original IP and “prominent” licences, Barber told GI.biz.

He added that the company planned to expand to 30 staff members by the end of 2016, and would be looking to target all virtual reality platforms – an interesting choice, given Starbreeze’s own competitor in the VR headset race.

“We believe VR’s next wave will be defined by native gameplay driven by immersive story and inventive mechanics, with photo-realistic visuals that compete with today’s top console titles,” Barber expressed.

“As developers get better at immersing players into the gaming experience with higher quality products and multiple player avatars within the same world, VR platforms will become more and more like what we always dreamed of from holo-decks, where the only boundaries are our imaginations.”