Bellevue, Wash.-based game developer Camouflaj has joined Meta’s Oculus Studios.
Camouflaj, founded in 2012, is the studio behind 2013’s Republique and 2019’s Iron Man VR. Its CEO, Ryan Payton, was previously the creative director on 343 Industries’ Halo 4.
“Eventually shedding our independence was never the plan when I started Camouflaj back in 2011,” Payton wrote on Camouflaj’s website, “but everything changed after we met the crew at Oculus Studios, who have treated us with nothing but kindness and respect.”
The two companies had previously collaborated in 2018 to publish a VR version of Republique on the Oculus Go.
Iron Man VR, a game based on and starring the Marvel superhero, was featured at Tuesday’s Meta Connect 2022 conference. Oculus itself is on deck to publish Iron Man VR as an upcoming release (Nov. 3) for the Meta Quest 2 standalone virtual reality headset.
“Throughout the past year, I became convinced that becoming part of Meta allows us to fully commit to our long-term VR ambitions,” Payton wrote, “and that our values of creating high-quality, meaningful games within a healthy work environment perfectly align with the goals and values of the larger organization.”
Payton will remain at Camouflaj as its studio head, and after the Meta Quest 2 version of Iron Man VR ships, will focus on an unannounced project that he calls the studio’s “biggest game yet.”
Camouflaj was one of three developers that were announced as new members of the Oculus Studios network, alongside Twisted Pixel (Wilson’s Heart) and Armature Studio (Resident Evil 4 VR). Both of the latter companies are headquartered in Austin, Texas.
A Meta representative confirmed to GeekWire that all three studios have been officially acquired by Meta, which isn’t sharing the details of the deals.
Other Pacific Northwest gaming news announced at Meta Connect 2022 includes:
- Among Us VR, the virtual-reality version of Redmond, Wash.-based Innersloth’s hit social-deduction game, will arrive on the Quest 2 on Nov. 10. The VR version of the game was created by Pittsburgh’s Schell Games, and was exhibited in Seattle at September’s Penny Arcade Expo.
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced at Meta Connect that a beta of Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to the Meta Quest Store. Similar to the current Netflix app, the Quest version of Xbox provides players with a sort of virtual movie theater, with Xbox games streaming from the cloud to a “massive” 2D screen and playable via an Xbox pad hooked up to your Quest 2.
- Meta’s next VR headset, the “high-end” Meta Quest Pro, will ship on Oct. 25 for $1,499.99.
