nDreams, Ltd. is a company that develops and publishes video games. It is located in Farnborough, Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The company was formed in August 2006 by former SCi and Eidos creative director, Patrick O'Luanaigh. Since formation, the developer has worked on numerous projects for different video game platforms, initially PlayStation Home, the virtual world on Sony's PlayStation 3 console, where they grew to become one of the leading publishers. From late 2013 nDreams began working on content for virtual reality (VR) headsets, such as Sony's PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR. nDreams has stated that they are now entirely focused on developing content for virtual reality.
Virtual reality
Since 2013, nDreams has focused on developing content for virtual reality headsets.
The first game released by nDreams for virtual reality was the tech demo SkyDIEving, which launched in 2013. This saw players freefalling through the sky until they inevitably crashed to their doom on the ground. Patrick O'Luanaigh stated that nDreams had seen "fantastic" reaction to SkyDIEving since it was released in 2013 and the demo received many plaudits.
In June 2014 at the E3 video game show nDreams announced The Assembly, which is planned for release on the Oculus Rift and Sony PlayStation VR headsets. The Assembly is an adventure game where you uncover the morally dubious secrets of an unknown scientific organisation from the perspective of two different characters.
Following the announcement of the Samsung Gear VR headset in September 2014, nDreams announced two titles that would be released for the headset. Gunner is a video game where the player wields a gun turret in outer space, shooting down the incoming enemy spacecraft. Perfect Beach is a relaxation experience where users sit on a tropical beach and take in vistas or listen to the meditation track. A demo for Gunner released in January 2015 on the Oculus Home store for the Samsung Gear VR headset. Full products of both Gunner and Perfect Beach are due to release in early 2015.
In December 2014 nDreams announced a new partnership with VR filmmakers Virtual View Productions. The partnership would allow them to explore the crossover between VR video games and movies.
nDreams has previously stated they also have other products in development for virtual reality headsets. They have also stated they are focused entirely on developing content for VR devices.
In February 2021, nDreams announced that they were moving into third-party publishing and had set up a $2 million dollar development fund.
In July 2021 nDreams the opening of a new studio, nDreams Studio Orbital, which would develop live VR games.
In October 2021, they announced that Little Cities, a VR game developed by Purple Yonder, was their first third-party published game.
In January 2022 nDreams announced the opening of a second studio nDreams Studio Elevation, which would develop AAA and VR games.
In March 2022, nDreams announced that they had received a $35 million investment from the Aonic Group.
In April 2022, Mark Zuckerberg announced Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase. nDreams were revealed as the developers of the cooperative multiplayer VR game.
In December 2022, nDreams announced it had acquired the Brighton-based virtual reality studio, Near Light for an undisclosed sum.
VRFocus.com
In early 2014, nDreams launched a consumer website focused on virtual reality called VRFocus. This is run on an independent basis and was founded by editor-in-chief, Kevin Joyce.
In February 2016, VRFocus launched VRTV, a fortnightly web show presented by Zeena Al-Obaidi.
nDreams sold VRFocus in 2017.
PlayStation Home
nDreams claimed to be one of the world's leading independent developers and publishers in PlayStation Home, the virtual world on Sony's PlayStation 3 console. The company created numerous games, virtual spaces and items for the platform between 2009 and 2014.
The first project created by nDreams for PlayStation Home was the world's first console-based and virtual world-based alternate reality game, Xi. Xi was released on March 23, 2009 and lasted a total of 12 weeks, taking place within PlayStation Home, across the web and in the real world.
nDreams next project for Home was a personal space called "The Pirate Galleon Apartment" which also released in 2009. This was the European Home's first personal space to have a mini-game with prizes. In 2010, nDreams released another personal space called "Musicality". In this space users could play a multiplayer music game.