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House of Secrets

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House of Secrets
Information
Industry Animation, visual effects, virtual reality
Founded 2004[1]
Founder Arjan van Meerten, Sven Neve, Bobby de Groot[1]
Products Surge, APEX, KIN
Website houseofsecrets.nl


House of Secrets is a Dutch animation and virtual reality (VR) studio. Its website identifies Utrecht as its studio location and gives its founding year as 2004, with Arjan van Meerten, Sven Neve and Bobby de Groot as founders.[1] Its VR productions include the music videos Surge and APEX, and the puzzle-platform game KIN. The Nederlands Film Festival credits House of Secrets as the production company for APEX, Kaleidoscope VR as co-production company and Wevr as Dutch distributor.[2][3]

The studio develops commissioned games and immersive installations alongside its original productions. Its services include interactive and linear VR content, animation and visual effects for larger productions, and procedural tools for game environments.[4]

History

House of Secrets began with commercial visual-effects work, including computer-generated imagery and digital post-production. It also developed the animated short Cruise Patrol, released in 2013. The studio's account of its move into VR connects its work on that film and the immersive attraction De Vuurproef with experiments in headset-based animation.[1] De Vuurproef was a computer-animated ride for the Railway Museum in Utrecht, presented through a 180-degree projection inside a replica locomotive cab.[5]

The studio produced its first VR music video, Surge, in 2015, followed by APEX in 2017 and its first original VR game, KIN, later that year.[1] Its website lists Van Meerten as creative lead and Neve as technical lead.[1]

VR productions

Surge

Surge is a short music video whose animation and music were created by Arjan van Meerten and produced at House of Secrets.[6] It initially circulated through Oculus Share before its Steam release on 19 May 2016.[7][6]

The experience uses Unreal Engine 4 to render its imagery in real time. In an April 2015 account, Ben Lang described a world of blocks, changing light and large humanoid figures, with movements and visual effects synchronized to the music.[8] A March 2016 download roundup documented an Oculus Rift DK2 version for Windows.[9] The later Steam listing identifies Surge as free and VR-only, with support for SteamVR or Oculus PC.[6]

APEX

APEX is a VR music video set in an animated urban apocalypse. Its world premiere took place in the Virtual Arcade program of Tribeca Immersive at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Tribeca credits Wevr, Kaleidoscope VR and House of Secrets as producers, Van Meerten for direction and music, Sven Neve for technical direction and programming, and Ruud Renting for production and animation.[10]

In a 2017 interview, Van Meerten connected Surge and APEX to the energy of metal concerts and described making a new kind of music video as a central aim of the work.[11] The studio's making-of account describes a process in which he began with looping sounds, then developed music and animation through repeated experiments. It identifies Unreal and Cubase among the tools used for the project.[12]

APEX was distributed through Wevr's Transport platform before its Steam release on 19 October 2017. The Steam edition lists Van Meerten and House of Secrets as developers, Wevr as publisher, and SteamVR as its VR runtime.[12][13]

KIN

KIN is a puzzle-platform game with combat. The player controls a small girl who jumps between platforms, fights enemies and solves puzzles in an alien world. House of Secrets described it as its first original game for VR.[3]

The Samsung Gear VR version launched on 21 December 2017. The Oculus Rift version followed on 31 January 2018, a date recorded both in the studio's launch announcement and in the Rift store listing.[3][14]

House of Secrets released KIN on Steam on 4 October 2019. Its version 1.1 announcement documented support for OpenVR and Oculus SDK launch paths, a non-VR mode with two camera options, revised input handling, and changes to lighting and interface text. This later release extended the game beyond its original headset-only presentation.[15]

Voyages pilot

In September 2018, House of Secrets announced a Voyages pilot made with Kaleidoscope and presented on SamsungVR. Four 360-degree videos explored stages of human life, including birth, adult life, old age and death. The announcement described them as concepts for a larger project, rather than a completed interactive release.[16] The studio's project page credits Van Meerten's collaboration with Kaleidoscope's René Pinnell and states that Mike Tucker originally created the death movement, which House of Secrets adapted into a 360-degree video.[17]

Commissioned games and installations

House of Secrets created two of the three VR games for Muse's 2019 Simulation Theory tour. Spaceship Defender was a cockpit shooter accompanied by "Pressure", while Retrograde Racer used a futuristic driving setting and "The Dark Side". The games formed part of the tour's VIP experience.[18] The wider Muse Simulation Theory VR Experience received a Gold award in the Games/Contests category of Digital/Mobile at Clio Music 2019. The award record identifies Listen as the entrant company and Microsoft as the brand.[19]

Later project records include VR brand activations, augmented reality (AR) applications and projection installations. The following examples are described in the studio's portfolio; their dates are the dates of those project entries.[20][21][22]

Project Portfolio date Format and studio contribution
Planet Happiness Expo 18 June 2024 Work with Studio Irma for an exhibition in Brussels, including content for 360-degree projection rooms, a drawing-scanning installation and an AR app. The app triggered exterior animations and used posters and images inside the venue to display animation, information and audio.[20]
STEM 11 September 2024 An interactive projection collaboration with Mr.Beam in which participants used their voices to make animated plants grow across building facades.[21]
Pepsi VR Slope Challenge 19 February 2026 A Meta Quest downhill skiing experience for a Pepsi activation at SnowWorld indoor ski centers, produced for HXTN. House of Secrets reports handling game mechanics, art direction and sound design, with a mobile leaderboard and iPad registration.[22]
Reviewed 12 October 2026. Studio identity and self-described history, original VR production credits and platform chronology, pilot status, and the cited commissioned-project and award records. About review dates.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "About". House of Secrets. https://houseofsecrets.nl/about/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  2. ↑ "APEX". Nederlands Film Festival. https://www.filmfestival.nl/en/film/apex. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "KIN is out now on Oculus Rift and GearVR!". House of Secrets. 2018-01-31. https://houseofsecrets.nl/news/kin-is-out-now-on-oculus-rift-and-gearvr/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  4. ↑ "Services". House of Secrets. https://houseofsecrets.nl/services/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  5. ↑ "De Vuurproef". House of Secrets. https://houseofsecrets.nl/portfolio_page/de-vuurproef-trial-by-fire/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Surge". Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/477130/Surge/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  7. ↑ "Surge". House of Secrets. 2017-03-03. https://houseofsecrets.nl/portfolio_page/surge/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  8. ↑ Ben Lang (2015-04-11). "'Surge' is a Real-time VR Music Video You Don't Want to Miss". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/surge-is-a-real-time-vr-music-video-you-dont-want-to-miss/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  9. ↑ Paul James (2016-03-11). "WEARVR Weekly Top Ten VR Downloads – March #2". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/wearvr-weekly-top-ten-vr-downloads-march-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  10. ↑ "Apex". Tribeca. https://tribecafilm.com/festival/archive/apex-2017. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  11. ↑ "This Virtual Reality Film Lets You Experience Apocalypse Firsthand". Observer. https://observer.com/2017/05/arjan-van-meerten-apex-virtual-reality-apocalypse-tribeca-film-festival/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "The making of: APEX". House of Secrets. 2017-07-11. https://houseofsecrets.nl/blog/the-making-of-apex/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  13. ↑ "Apex". Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/630630/Apex/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  14. ↑ "KIN". Meta Store. https://www.meta.com/es-es/experiences/pcvr/kin/1170137896430023/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  15. ↑ House of Secrets (2019-10-04). "KIN has been released!". Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/879200/view/1584629091405493862?l=english. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  16. ↑ "Pilot of VOYAGES now on SamsungVR.com". House of Secrets. 2018-09-10. https://houseofsecrets.nl/news/pilot-of-voyages-now-on-samsungvr-com/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  17. ↑ "Voyages Pilot". House of Secrets. 2018-11-13. https://houseofsecrets.nl/portfolio_page/voyages-pilot/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  18. ↑ "MUSE Simulation Theory Tour – VR Games". House of Secrets. 2019-01-31. https://houseofsecrets.nl/portfolio_page/muse-vr-games/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  19. ↑ "Microsoft: Muse Simulation Theory VR Experience". The Clios. https://clios.com/winners-gallery/details/89951. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Planet Happiness Expo". House of Secrets. 2024-06-18. https://houseofsecrets.nl/portfolio_page/planet-happiness-expo/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "STEM". House of Secrets. 2024-09-11. https://houseofsecrets.nl/portfolio_page/stem/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Pepsi VR Slope Challenge". House of Secrets. 2026-02-19. https://houseofsecrets.nl/portfolio_page/pepsi-vr-slope-challenge/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
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