NDreams

nDreams is a company that develops and publishes virtual reality video games. Based in Farnborough, Hampshire, UK, it was formed in August 2006¹ by former SCi and Eidos creative director, Patrick O'Luanaigh. Since formation, the developer has worked on numerous projects for different video game platforms, initially PlayStation Home, the virtual world on Sony's PlayStation 3 console, where it grew to become one of the leading publishers. From late 2013 it began working on content for virtual reality (VR) headsets, such as Sony's PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR. The company has stated that they are now entirely focused on developing content for virtual reality and are one of the world's biggest developers in the VR space. On 20 November 2023 it was announced that Aonic completed the "landmark" acquisition of nDreams for $110 million.

nDreams is a company that develops and publishes virtual reality video games. Based in Farnborough, Hampshire, UK, it was formed in August 2006 by former SCi and Eidos creative director, Patrick O'Luanaigh. Since formation, the developer has worked on numerous projects for different video game platforms, initially PlayStation Home, the virtual world on Sony's PlayStation 3 console, where it grew to become one of the leading publishers. From late 2013 it began working on content for virtual reality (VR) headsets, such as Sony's PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR. The company has stated that they are now entirely focused on developing content for virtual reality and are one of the world's biggest developers in the VR space. On 20 November 2023 it was announced that Aonic completed the "landmark" acquisition of nDreams for $110 million.

Early Years: PlayStation Home and ARGs

nDreams claimed to be one of the world's leading independent developers and publishers in PlayStation Home, the virtual world on Sony's PlayStation 3 console. The company created numerous games, virtual spaces and items for the platform between 2009¹ and 2013. At the time of PlayStation Home's closure, CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh stated that it "was a commercial success" for nDreams. The first project created by nDreams for PlayStation Home was the world's first console-based and virtual world-based alternate reality game, Xi. Xi was released on 23 March 2009 and lasted a total of 12 weeks, taking place within PlayStation Home, across the web and in the real world. nDreams' next project for Home was a personal space called "The Pirate Galleon Apartment" which also released in 2009. This was the European Home's first personal space to have a mini-game with prizes. In 2010, nDreams released another personal space called "Musicality". In this space users could play a multiplayer music game. Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life was nDreams' second alternate reality game. It was not based in PlayStation Home like Xi was. The ARG was created for Reebok, who also co-developed the game. Wired called it 'one of the most engaging, interactive, and exciting games of 2010.' The game launched in March 2010 and ran until November 2010, with over 637,000 players from 154 countries taking part. They worked together to solve puzzles and complete tests online, on mobiles and in the real world. Live events took place across the globe including tasks in Spain, Lebanon, Malaysia, India and the United Kingdom. The game was run in nine languages (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Turkish and Korean), which Guinness acknowledged as a world record for a game of this type in 2013. In 2011, nDreams released a new game space called "Aurora" where PlayStation Home users can visit and play various mini games, receive rewards and hang out with fellow users. Aurora had over 18 million visits from 1.8 million unique players, making it nDreams' most successful project in PlayStation Home. nDreams also created numerous virtual items for use on a player's avatar as well as many more spaces.

Awards and nominations

2024: Develop:Star Awards – Talent Development Star winner 2024: NYX Game Awards – Grand Winner – Sony PlayStation VR Game (Synapse) 2024: NYX Game Awards – Gold Winner – Meta Quest VR Evolving Game (Little Cities) 2023: AIXR VR Awards – Outstanding VR Company of the Year winner 2023: TIGA Awards – Best VR/AR Game winner (Synapse) 2023: The Game Awards – Best VR/AR Game nominee (Synapse) 2023: GamesIndustry.biz Best Places to Work Awards – Education Award winner 2023: Develop:Star Awards – Marketing Star winner 2022: UploadVR – Favorite New Quest Game of 2022 (Little Cities) 2022: TIGA Awards – Best VR/AR Game winner (Fracked) 2020: TIGA Awards – Best VR Game winner (Phantom: Covert Ops) 2019: Game Critics Award – Best VR/AR Game winner (Phantom: Covert Ops) 2019: Viveport Developer Award – Arcade - PC winner (Shooty Fruity Arcade)

References

External links

Official website

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371162435 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.