Players worldwide can already feel the foretaste of entertainment. It is prepared by the Polish studio Bluekey and the publisher of the game “Rooms of Realities” – Gamedust. It will be a part of Steam Puzzle Fest from April 24 to May 1. Its demo version has been made available, taking players to virtual escape rooms.
The demo of the unique project was released only a year after the publication of the first announcement and trailer. Currently, player feedback and tested technologies are being collected. It is dedicated to the Meta Quest 1, Meta Quest 2, and Meta Quest Pro devices. And i contains an interactive lobby and one escape room. It is part of the larger scenario “In the Shadows of the Pyramids.” This scenario is based on one of the real escape rooms of the “Emergency Exit” company from Warsaw.
Thus, it turns out that it is possible to transfer real escape rooms to the virtual world. However, you have to adjust the puzzles accordingly, being able to afford a setting impossible to obtain in the real world. The game can be played in demo mode alone and in cooperation with up to four people.
More escape rooms will be available in the full version of the game. Immediately after the premiere players will be able to go on a virtual journey. It will include pyramids, underwater depths, or an abandoned hospital. VR technology will take the experience of playing in an escape room to a higher level. It will offer even greater satisfaction than in the offline world.
Escape rooms in the Metaverse
Bluekey’s activity is part of the idea underlying the Metaverse, It is about building virtual worlds where people can spend time and interact with each other. The scope of the company’s activities directly relates to technological and cultural changes affecting the digital entertainment industry.
Bluekey, after a successful investment round ($1.3 million) with the participation of the YouNick Mint fund ($0.8 million), supported by PFR Ventures, started its activity by producing games for VR platforms inspired by existing escape rooms. It is to ensure the company’s recognition on the market. And contact with clients and partners from the escape room industry. In the following stages, the company plans to implement technological solutions that will enable the digitization of escape rooms on a massive scale. Thanks to this, players will have access to escape rooms from around the world. And escape room owners will be able to sell their products to a broader audience, regardless of location. Creating an entire ecosystem for creators and fans of escape rooms will enable further scaling of the Bluekey business.
VR is a dynamically growing gaming industry sector that attracts more and more users and records growing revenues. In 2019, there were “only” 8 million VR goggles in the world. Last year it was 3.5 times more – about 28 million. Forecasts for next year indicate an increase of 66% to 46 million sets. With the development of technology and the debuts of more VR games, further growth in this market can be expected.
Read more about Top-10 gamedev companies 2023 from Poland here.