nDreams, Ltd. is a company that develops and publishes

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s. It is located in Farnborough, Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The company was formed in August 2006 by former SCi and

Eidos Eidos may refer to: * Eidos (philosophy), a Greek term meaning "form" "essence", "type" or "species". See Plato's theory of forms and Aristotle's theory of universals * Eidos plc, a British software company, which created video game publisher Eido ...

creative director, Patrick O'Luanaigh. Since formation, the developer has worked on numerous projects for different

platforms, initially

PlayStation Home PlayStation Home was a virtual 3D social gaming platform developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) on the PlayStation Network (PSN). It was accessible from the PS3's XrossMediaBar (XMB). Membership was ...

, the

virtual world A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

console, where they grew to become one of the leading publishers. From late 2013 nDreams began working on content for virtual reality (VR) headsets, such as Sony's

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 an ...

Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Meta Platforms, released on March 28, 2016. In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, af ...

and

Samsung Gear VR The Samsung Gear VR is a virtual reality headset developed by Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with Oculus VR, and manufactured by Samsung. The headset was released on November 27, 2015. When in use, a compatible Samsung Galaxy device acts ...

. nDreams has stated that they are now entirely focused on developing content for

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

Virtual reality

Since 2013, nDreams has focused on developing content for

virtual reality headset A virtual reality headset (or VR headset) is a head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR ...

s. The first game released by nDreams for virtual reality was the tech demo SkyDIEving, which launched in 2013. This saw players freefalling through the sky until they inevitably crashed to their doom on the ground. Patrick O'Luanaigh stated that nDreams had seen "fantastic" reaction to SkyDIEving since it was released in 2013 and the demo received many plaudits. In June 2014 at the E3

show nDreams announced The Assembly, which is planned for release on the

and

headsets. The Assembly is an adventure game where you uncover the morally dubious secrets of an unknown scientific organisation from the perspective of two different characters. Following the announcement of the

headset in September 2014, nDreams announced two titles that would be released for the headset. ''Gunner'' is a video game where the player wields a gun turret in outer space, shooting down the incoming enemy spacecraft. ''Perfect Beach'' is a relaxation experience where users sit on a tropical beach and take in vistas or listen to the meditation track. A demo for ''Gunner'' released in January 2015 on the Oculus Home store for the Samsung Gear VR headset. Full products of both Gunner and Perfect Beach are due to release in early 2015. In December 2014 nDreams announced a new partnership with VR filmmakers Virtual View Productions. The partnership would allow them to explore the crossover between VR video games and movies. nDreams has previously stated they also have other products in development for virtual reality headsets. They have also stated they are focused entirely on developing content for VR devices. In February 2021, nDreams announced that they were moving into third-party publishing and had set up a $2 million dollar development fund. In July 2021 nDreams the opening of a new studio, nDreams Studio Orbital, which would develop live VR games. In October 2021, they announced that Little Cities, a VR game developed by Purple Yonder, was their first third-party published game. In January 2022 nDreams announced the opening of a second studio nDreams Studio Elevation, which would develop AAA and VR games. In March 2022, nDreams announced that they had received a $35 million investment from the Aonic Group. In April 2022, Mark Zuckerberg announced Ghostbusters VR at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase. nDreams were revealed as the developers of the cooperative multiplayer VR game. In December 2022, nDreams announced it had acquired the Brighton-based virtual reality studio, Near Light for an undisclosed sum.

VRFocus.com

In early 2014, nDreams launched a consumer website focused on

called VRFocus. This is run on an independent basis and was founded by editor-in-chief, Kevin Joyce. In February 2016, VRFocus launched VRTV, a fortnightly web show presented by Zeena Al-Obaidi. nDreams sold VRFocus in 2017.

PlayStation Home

nDreams claimed to be one of the world's leading independent developers and publishers in

, the

on Sony's PlayStation 3 console. The company created numerous games, virtual spaces and items for the platform between 2009 and 2014. The first project created by nDreams for PlayStation Home was the world's first console-based and virtual world-based

alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...

, Xi. Xi was released on March 23, 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 A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...

with prizes. In 2010, nDreams released another personal space called "Musicality". In this space users could play a multiplayer music game. 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 has 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 Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...

as well as many more spaces. PlayStation Home closed 31 March 2015. At the time the closure was announced nDreams stated they would continue to release additional content ahead of the closure of the platform. On reflection of PlayStation Home's success, CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh stated that PlayStation Home "was a commercial success" for nDreams.

Early projects

In early 2008, nDreams contributed to educational tool iStories. *''Venus Redemption'' was an

episodic video game An episodic video game is a video game of a shorter length that is commercially released as an installment to a continuous and larger series. Episodic games differ from conventional video games in that they often contain less content but are develo ...

that was in development by nDreams. The game was to cater primarily to a female audience around 30 years of age. It was to be released for Microsoft Windows, Mac, iPhone, Wii, and

web browsers A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

, but the game was put on hold while nDreams focused on other projects. The game was planned to be dialogue-heavy. The story was being written by Kate Pullinger, with help from comic book writer

Gordon Rennie Gordon Rennie is a Scottish comics writer, responsible for ''White Trash: Moronic Inferno'', as well as several comic strips for '' 2000 AD'' and novels for ''Warhammer Fantasy''. In May 2008, he announced he was leaving comics to concentrate f ...

, the music was to be composed by Tim Wright, and it was to be directed by Robin Shepperd. The first season of the game was to be composed of six ninety-minute episodes, and they were to be released on either a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. It was being developed with the Unity engine. After a great response to an early demo, ''Venus Redemption'' was put on hold while nDreams focused on other projects, such as PlayStation Home and other third party projects. It was initially announced in 2009, but no further updates on its status have been released as of , . *''Project Y'' is currently in development for

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

s running Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

. *''Spirit of Adventure'' *''StreetDance 3D'', a Facebook app, is a collaborative project between nDreams and

Vertigo Films Vertigo Films is a British television and film production company based in London, England. Vertigo Films has been responsible for the production and distribution of '' Bronson'', ''StreetDance 3D'', and '' Monsters''. It now focuses solely o ...

based on the

StreetDance 3D ''StreetDance 3D'' (also called ''StreetDance'') is a 2010 British 3D dance comedy-drama film which was released on 21 May 2010. The film was released in RealD 3D, XpanD 3D, and Dolby 3D with Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini directing it. ''Britain's ...

movie. * ''Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life'' is nDreams's second alternate reality game. It was not based in PlayStation Home like ''Xi'' was. The ARG was created for

Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...

, 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.

Funding

In January 2015, nDreams announced a $2.75 million investment from Mercia Technologies. This investment is planned to allow the studio to expand and invest in research and development of virtual reality games. One of Mercia's leaders, former Sega CEO Mike Hayes, joined the nDreams board of directors in 2014. In March 2022, nDreams announced that they had received a $35 million investment from the Aonic Group.

Awards and nominations

*2008: ''

Develop Develop or DEVELOP may refer to: * ''Develop'' (magazine), a trade publication for the video game industry * ''Develop'' (Apple magazine), a technical magazine formerly published by Apple Computer * Develop (chess), moving a piece from its origina ...

'' "Hot companies to look out for" *2009: ''

Edge Magazine ''Edge'' is a multi-format video game magazine published by Future plc. It is a UK-based magazine and publishes 13 issues annually. The magazine was launched by Steve Jarratt. It has also released foreign editions in Australia, Brazil, France, ...

'' 'XI project for

" *2009: ''Develop'' Award "Best New Studio" nominee. *2010: ''Develop'' Award "Business Development" nominee. *2010: Kemp Little Innovation Award "Outstanding Business innovation" nominee *2011: ''Develop'' Award "Business Development" nominee *2011: Smarta 100 Awards Winner *2012: Inspire "Online Excellence" Award Winner *2014: Santander "Breakthrough 50" Winner *2014: Tiga Awards "Independent Studio" nominee *2019: Viveport Developer Award "Arcade - PC" for Shooty Fruity Arcade *2019: Game Critics Award "Best VR/AR Game" for Phantom: Covert Ops *2020: Lloyds Business Award: Exporter of the Year *2020: Tiga Awards: Best VR Game for Phantom: Covert Ops

References

External links

* {{Official website Video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game development companies