Studio Behind ‘Surge’ Launches First VR Game ‘KIN’ on Gear VR, Headed to Rift in January 2018

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House of Secrets, the Amsterdam-based studio behind acclaimed real-time VR music videos Surge (2015) and Apex (2017),  have released their first full VR game, a puzzle platformer titled KIN. Now available on Gear VR for $10, the game will also be headed to Oculus Rift in January 2018.

Update (12/22/17): House of Secrets have just released ‘KIN’ for Gear VR. According to the game’s website, a Rift version is also headed to the Oculus Store, slated for January 2018 release. The Gear VR requires a gamepad controller, so it isn’t clear at this point which control scheme the Rift version will adopt.

Original Article (08/17/17): The studio calls the game a “VR puzzle platformer game with combat elements.” The game is due to launch “later this year” on both the Oculus Rift and Gear VR (Galaxy S6 or higher only). Catch the teaser trailer below:

From the looks of it, Kin is likely to be a third-person game. It’s unclear at this stage if it will be based on gamepad or motion input, though the studio says it is a “seated or standing experience.” As for gameplay, House of Secrets says that players will “traverse the remnants of an ancient civilization on a distant planet. Throughout your journey through alien landscapes, a story will unfold.”

The game holds an abstract aesthetic that has become characteristic for the studio through their earlier VR experiences such as APEX and Surge. Lively colours, intuitive gameplay and interesting level design set the tone for KIN, in which the player moves through the world as a mysterious, tiny girl with big hair clad in a bright dress. Defeating enemies and solving puzzles, she leaps from platform to platform, travelling through different landscapes.

Surge and Apex were headed by House of Secrets’ Arjan van Meerten; fans of those works will be pleased to know that Meerten is also heading Kin as the game’s Creative & Technical Lead, alongside the studio’s Sven Neve.

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'Surge' is a Real-time VR Music Video You Don't Want to Miss

House of Secrets has formerly done VFX and interactive work, but Kin will be the studio’s first VR game proper. The studio says the game is “made possible by Oculus,” though it isn’t clear to what extent the company is involved; our guess would be that they will be publishing and/or funding the development of the title.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Raphael

    Oh dear. Another crappy octopus exclusive.

    • yag

      you mean another great game made possible by Oculus ;)

      • Raphael

        No. Oculus games don’t generally appeal to me.

        • Octopus*

          • Raphael

            Thanks for catching that typo. I meant to say Octopus of course. I think my phone changes the word without me noticing.

            Octopus, octopus, octopus.

      • BadHairDay

        And I bet they didn’t get a dime to make it exclusive.

      • Great remains to be seen.

  • Dotcommer

    “coming to gearVR and oculus rift”, lol, thats a bold strategy, lets see if it works out for them!

  • yag

    btw, still no news about a free distribution of ‘Apex’ ?

  • J.C.

    I went from no knowledege of this game’s existence, to interest, to not caring about it at all by the end of the article. What a rollercoaster!

  • DA AN

    Update: KIN is out now on GearVR, with support for Oculus Rift following in January 2018!
    http://www.kin-game.com

  • JustNiz

    Yawn yet another low quality game that uses cartoony graphics just so they can make it on the cheap.