For most people, the prospect of spending days immersed in virtual reality worlds is a pipe dream made possible only by winning the lottery or some other turn of good fortune. For the folks at Qualicum-based Cloudhead Games, five of whom are VIU alumni, this is their everyday.
Up against heavy competition from AAA studios for games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim, the virtual reality game development company recently won Virtual Reality Game of the Year for one of its latest games – Heart of the Emberstone.
Antony Stevens (Bachelor of Arts, Major in Creative Writing ’16), the company’s Community Relations Coordinator, chose VIU because he had heard good things about the writing program. While at VIU, he took a game theory course and the professor of the course, who knew the writer at Cloudhead, recommended Stevens for a social media position.
Cinematic Designer Daniel Taylor (Digital Media Studies 2012 - 2013) ended up getting the job at Cloudhead before he finished his program – again through connections he made in the gaming community while studying at VIU.
Programmer Cameron Oltmann (Electronics Technician Certificate ’93) has always been interested in computers and video games; when technology made virtual reality a possibility and a local source of inspiration popped up, he was excited to join the Cloudhead team.
Finance Manager Denise Warwaruk (Bachelor of Business Administration ’10) became involved with Cloudhead because she recognized the unique opportunity to express her entrepreneurial spirit while working for a tech startup. The versatility of her VIU business degree provided her with the ability to help direct and contribute to all aspects of business operations for a newly formed company.
Lead Programmer Paul White (Diploma in Jazz Studies ’04) had his passion for gaming fuelled in elementary school, when the school librarian taught him how to script. He remembers his time studying music at VIU with fondness.
Next up for Cloudhead is releasing its latest game, Pistol Whip, described as an action-hero sensory trip.
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