TinyBuild started as an independent game developer that created No Time To Explain, but has since grown into a publisher that helps other startup developers succeed. It has released a multitude of games with a unique sense of humor for PC and mobile, including Punch Club (which sold over 300,000 copies when it released last month), a shooter called Lovely Planet, and a furniture eating simulator called Not the Robots. As a sign of the company’s growth, TinyBuild hosted “Four-nification Week” last January, where it announced a new game every 24 hours—with four titles in total.
Then there’s SpeedRunners (a kind of superhero-themed on-foot racing game with power-ups and weapons), which reached $1 million in sales when it hit Early Access in 2013, and continued to build on that success after it officially released earlier this month. Promotion for games like SpeedRunners relied heavily on Twitch streaming and partnering with popular YouTube broadcasters to help get the word out about the game—all in addition to making some fantastic animated gifs.
Now the company is preparing to enter into virtual reality gaming with Stage Presence, which was announced live from the Twitch stage at PAX East over the weekend, and attendees were the first to give the game a try. The game, which is expected to release for Oculus Rift and PC this summer, simulates one of the worst possible scenarios a musician can end up in, and players must use their voices to entertain a restless crowd that’s prone to throwing items and heckling the player.
Mike Rose, producer for Stage Presence, talks to [a]listdaily about promoting TinyBuild’s first VR game and how to overcome stage fright.
What is Stage Presence about and how does it work?
Stage Presence is essentially about the ultimate virtual stage fright experience. You’re on stage playing a gig, and it’s all going great… then the electricity on stage blows, and the only equipment now working is your microphone. You then have to keep the crowd happy for a few minutes with just the power of your voice, using that microphone. The game has full VR support, so you really feel like you’ve been dropped in the deep end.
How does Stage Presence differ from current music and rhythm games?
Stage Presence honestly isn’t really comparable to any music game out there. You can sing, rap, shout, talk or rile up the crowd any way you want, but the crowd is going to constantly want something different from you each time you play. Working out exactly what that is is part of the challenge.
How will Twitch be integrated into the VR game?
There’s tons of Twitch integration in there, and plenty more on the way. The Twitch chat will appear as a lyrics sheet in front of you, and the chat will be able to type in commands to take over people in the crowd and throw bottles of piss at you. There’s plenty of stupid Twitch stuff in there, as you’d expect from a TinyBuild game.
What convinced TinyBuild to offer Stage Presence as its first VR game?
TinyBuild has been experimenting in-house with VR for a while now, so when we saw Stage Presence, signing the game was a no-brainer. The feeling of helplessness you get from the experience is super immersive, and everything we were looking for in a first VR experience from our company.
How will you be getting the word out about Stage Presence?
In terms of getting the word out, I’m sure you’re aware of the crazy stuff we come up with when it comes to marketing our games. Much of the shouting about the game will revolve around Twitch, gifs of people playing, and general silliness. It’s worked for us for a long time, so I’m sure it’ll work wonders here too. We’ve also been in talks with Oculus about features on its storefront, so that will no doubt be useful too.
What are the challenges in promoting an independently developed game for emerging technology like VR?
Obviously, when it comes to VR games, it’s quite a niche right now. The hope is that when PlayStation VR comes out, the VR space will really go mainstream and be adopted by as many people as possible. Fortunately, Stage Presence is perfectly playable without VR, although it does lose some of its edge, as you might expect.
Has any consideration been given to developing Stage Presence for mobile VR?
We haven’t currently explored mobile VR, but it’s definitely a possibility once the game has been released for PC.
