Source: Warducks
Known for their amazing, phone-based applications, Warducks is a company that seeks to further beome a house-hold name with their innovative ideas. Recently, Warducks conducted a press release regarding their dive into Virtual Reality (VR) with the game Sneaky Bears! (You can find my review of it here!) While discussing that game, they announced the VR Roller Coaster version of Sneaky Bears, which takes you on a ride through the hot-spots of the game. On top of that, this Ireland-based company expressed their plans to dive further into the VR world through PlayStation, Occulus Rift, and the HTC Vive. I was fortunate enough to get with the Warducks CEO Nikki Lannen, who was gracious enough to answer my annoyingly journalistic questions! Read more for her responses:
What inspired the original Sneaky Bears?
“The original idea was inspired by Dareen on our team, who noted on VR [how] you only have a limited field of view. We wanted to make the player feel paranoid, so the concept was that the bears would move when you’re not looking at them. Hence the name Sneaky Bears. The game has, however, evolved since then, but that was where the original idea came from.”
What prompted the idea for a Sneaky-Bears-based style roller coaster game?
“We’re currently working on a PlayStation VR (PSVR) version of Sneaky Bears. The roller coaster was an addition to this and we decided it was so much fun we should share it on the Samsung Gear VR platform also!”
Are you thinking of doing another Sneaky Bears game in a different setting?
“The next step is Sneaky Bears on PSVR, Occulus Rift and HTV Vive. This is going to be a much more lengthy version of the game and we’re really adding a lot more in terms of gameplay. We’re really excited about this launch.”
So, according to the press release, you’re hoping to focus on PlayStation VR and Occulus Rift games; do you have a timeline for that or is it still in its beginning stages?
“We’re aiming for July this year (2017) if all goes to plan.”
Is there any potential in the future for the Sneaky Bears franchise to make it onto consoles like PlayStation?
“For now we will just focus on VR, but who knows what the future will hold!”
What made you, as a person, decide to enter the gaming development industry?
“I worked in Facebook for almost 5 years as part of the games team. This was [the] driving force behind my motivation for entering the games world.”
Is there any particular story behind the naming of the company Warducks?
I actually get asked this pretty regularly. 🙂 No real story behind our name. I though tof it and thought ‘it sounds cool!’ We also like the slogan ‘Ducks of a feather, play games together.’
Source: Nikki Lannen
From the mind of Nikki Lannen herself (Featured in photo above), we got a good insight to what’s made Warducks so successful, as well as a look on their plans for the future. The entire Warducks team seems to be heavily dedicated to their work, and I love them for it. Keep an eye out for the Sneaky Bears Roller Coaster VR as well as the original Sneaky Bears – both of which are available on iOS and android, and look out for the PlayStation VR, Occulus Rift, and HTC Vive versions, coming soon! Remember, “Ducks of a feather, play games together!” As always, thanks for reading!
