(VRPinea, January 20) -- Today's key news: Qualcomm has acquired Ukraine-based AR/VR software developer Augmented Pixels; British VR game developer nDreams has announced the establishment of a third VR studio; and the popular VR flight simulation game "VTOL VR" has recently undergone a major update.
Qualcomm acquires Ukrainian AR/VR software developer Augmented Pixels
U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm reportedly acquired Ukrainian startup Augmented Pixel. Although the exact amount of the acquisition has not yet been disclosed, it is reported that the transaction price is between $20 million and $50 million. Upon completion of the transaction, Augmented Pixels founder Goncharuk will continue to serve on the Qualcomm XR team.
Founded in Odessa, Ukraine in 2013, Augmented Pixels has developed proprietary synchronous positioning and 3D mapping technology that can be applied to mobile phones, drones, robotic AR navigation and 3D mapping. While there is no official statement yet, the profile of the Augmented Pixels Twitter account says "acquired by Qualcomm."
VRPinea Exclusive Review: Acquisition Boom? It seems that everyone is accumulating strength.
nDreams opens a third VR studio that will focus on AAA VR game development
Recently, British VR game developer nDreams announced the establishment of a third VR studio, nDreams Studio Elevation, which will be led by Glenn Brace and will mainly focus on the production of AAA VR games.
Glenn Brace was previously the artistic director of nDreams and prior to that was the artistic director of British game developer Climax Studios, helping to develop works including the Assassin's Creed: Chronicles trilogy. nDreams was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Farnborough, UK. Last July, nDreams set up nDreams Orbital Studios, which also plans to open a new studio for the team in the UK.
VRPinea Exclusive Review: Phantom: Covert Ops is nDreams' masterpiece, with total revenue of more than $1 million in the first month after its release.
Metacosmity game developer Animoca Brands completed a $358.8 million funding round
Meta-universe game developer Animoca Brands reportedly completed a $358.8 million funding round. This round of financing was led by Liberty City Ventures, followed by investment institutions such as C Capital and 10T Holdings. The new funds will be used for strategic acquisitions and investments, product development, and intellectual property subscriptions.
Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands was spun off from Appionics Holdings Ltd. and founded in 2014 by Renowned Hong Kong tech entrepreneur Xiao Yi. Animoca Brands is a blockchain game developer dedicated to building an open metaversary world by bringing digital property rights to online users through the use of blockchain and NFTs.
VRPinea exclusive review: Animoca Brands owns the development agency rights of big IP comics mobile games such as Doraemon, Cherry Maruko, garfield and so on.
Apple's patent introduces a content rating system for the AR/VR virtual world
In the new patent application, Apple introduced a content rating system similar to the "movie rating system" and mainly for the AR/VR field.
It is understood that Apple first rates the content, and then the neural network provides different scenarios according to the target audience. In scenarios where there is violence, a trained neural network generates less violent scenes and feeds them to the right audience. For example, a violent gunfight scene can be transformed into a simple punch and kick.
VRPinea Exclusive Review: Meta, which has been questioned about child safety issues, quickly copy your homework.
The VR flight simulation game VTOL VR adds a PVP multiplayer mode
The VR flight simulation game VTOL VR has recently undergone a major update, adding co-op and PVP multiplayer modes, as well as paid DLC featuring co-pilot helicopters.
It is understood that "VTOL VR" was developed by Boundless Dynamics and was originally released for PC VR headsets in August 2017. The game has been updated regularly since the release of version 1.0 in mid-2020, with the v1.3.0 update earlier this month adding a new multiplayer mode and introducing an airplane with a co-pilot for the first time. The aircraft has front and rear seats that control the flight, which means that the two players can choose to assign the flight in a way that suits them.
VRPinea exclusive review: This game is highly realistic, the cockpit is fully interactive, welcome to the pit.