Sólfar Studios
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| Sólfar Studios | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Industry | Virtual reality, video games |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | S. Reynir Harðarson, Kjartan Pierre Emilsson, Thor Gunnarsson |
| Headquarters | Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Products | EVEREST VR, In Death |
| Parent | Mainframe Industries |
| Website | https://www.solfar.com |
Sólfar Studios (legal name Sólfar Studios ehf.) is a virtual reality game developer based in Reykjavík, Iceland.[1] It was founded in late 2014 by three former CCP Games staff: CCP co-founder S. Reynir Harðarson, former EVE Online lead designer Kjartan Pierre Emilsson, and former CCP business development head Thor Gunnarsson.[2] The studio describes itself as "a pure virtual reality studio."[1]
Sólfar released two VR titles. EVEREST VR (2016), made with the Icelandic visual effects company RVX, recreates an expedition up Mount Everest from stereo photogrammetry of the mountain.[3] In Death (2018) is a roguelike bow-shooter for PC VR headsets and PlayStation VR.[4] In 2019 Gunnarsson's team founded the Helsinki game company Mainframe Industries, and he later said that Mainframe acquired Sólfar and kept it as an operating subsidiary after moving away from VR development.[5]
History
Founding and funding
In a June 2015 post on the PlayStation Blog, Emilsson wrote that Sólfar was a small Icelandic team founded in late 2014 in Reykjavík, with the stated aim of creating and publishing "AAA VR games". The post named the three founders and their CCP roles: Harðarson had co-founded CCP and been its Global Creative Director, Emilsson had been lead designer of EVE Online and CCP's Principal Game Designer, and Gunnarsson had most recently led business development at CCP.[2] Gunnarsson has said he left CCP in late 2014 to co-found the studio.[5]
On 11 November 2015 Sólfar announced a seed round of US$2.1 million. Road to VR listed the investors as Shanda Group (Tianqiao Chen's private investment group), the Icelandic firm NSA Ventures, the Finnish venture capital firms Inventure and Reaktor Ventures, and individual investors from the company's earlier angel round.[6] Emilsson was chief executive at the time.[6]
Godling
The studio's first announced project was Godling, which Emilsson wrote had been showcased at Sony's E3 2015 conference as a game for Project Morpheus, the headset later sold as PlayStation VR. Emilsson described it as a sandbox in which the player is a toddler god who awakens in a natural world and can use their powers to nurture it or ruin it. It was designed for gaze-based navigation with positional tracking and the DualShock 4 controller.[2] In March 2016 MCV reported that Godling, like EVEREST VR, used Graphine Software's Granite texture-streaming middleware.[7] When EVEREST VR came to the Oculus Rift in February 2017, UploadVR reported that Sólfar still planned a PlayStation VR version and was looking to turn its attention back to Godling.[8]
EVEREST VR
EVEREST VR was announced together with the seed round. It was built in Unreal Engine 4 with RVX, which Road to VR described as a Nordic visual effects and animation house. The planned route ran from Base Camp through the Khumbu Icefall, the Lhotse Face and the Hillary Step to the summit.[6] Fortune reported in April 2016 that the mountain was rebuilt with stereo photogrammetry from high-resolution photographs RVX had shot on Everest. It also reported that the studio's lead animator, Óðinn Árnason, was an ice climber and mountaineer who advised on climbing equipment, and quoted Gunnarsson on balancing accuracy against accessibility.[3]
The experience launched on Steam on 2 August 2016, optimized for the HTC Vive, with Sólfar and RVX credited as developers and Sólfar as publisher.[9] The Oculus Rift version followed on 14 February 2017 on Oculus Home for US$14.99 with Oculus Touch support. It added new God Mode content in which players can trace about 18 historic climbs with teleportation, including Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's 1953 ascent; the new content was also offered to Vive owners as a free update.[8] The PlayStation VR version was released on 3 October 2017 for US$14.99.[10]
In February 2017 Sólfar and RVX donated EVEREST VR to the Royal Geographical Society in London, where it became a permanent part of the society's Everest exhibit and was to be used for public and school presentations, research audiences and training. Emilsson said the team had included photographs from the 1953 expedition.[11]
In Death
Sólfar revealed In Death in December 2017 as a roguelike bow-shooter set in a "godless afterlife", with procedurally generated levels, progression that carries over between runs, and a closed beta for Rift and Vive players.[12] The game entered Early Access on 1 February 2018 at US$20. Road to VR reported in September 2018 that it would leave Early Access on 2 October 2018, alongside the "Paradise Lost" update, with the price rising to US$30 on the Oculus Store and Steam, and listed support for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.[4] Steam lists the full release date as 2 October 2018, with Sólfar as developer and publisher.[13] A PlayStation VR version followed on 27 November 2018 at US$30, with PlayStation Move support and an option to play with the PS4 gamepad using its motion tracking.[14]
A standalone version, In Death: Unchained, was released for the Oculus Quest on 23 July 2020. It was developed by a different studio, Superbright, and added a new world, The Abyss. UploadVR reported that the Quest version would receive new content and DLC that the other platforms would not.[15]
Mainframe Industries
In a 2020 interview, Gunnarsson said the team built a prototype during the winter of 2018-2019 and then founded Mainframe in Helsinki. Mainframe acquired Sólfar and folded it in as an operating subsidiary, and the team "shifted out of the VR development".[5] Game Developer reported that Mainframe Industries was established in April 2019, with Gunnarsson as chief executive. It was developing a cloud-native MMO described as a "social sandbox" and was expanding its studios in Helsinki, Reykjavík and Paris.[16] As of October 2026 the Sólfar website still features In Death and EVEREST VR and does not mention any newer projects.[1]
Products
| Title | Year | Platforms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Godling | Announced 2015 | PlayStation VR (announced) | Shown at Sony's E3 2015 conference[2] |
| EVEREST VR | 2016 | HTC Vive (August 2016), Oculus Rift (February 2017), PlayStation VR (October 2017) | Co-developed with RVX[9][8][10] |
| In Death | 2018 | HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality (Early Access February 2018, 1.0 October 2018), PlayStation VR (November 2018) | Roguelike bow-shooter; the 2020 Quest version In Death: Unchained was developed by Superbright[4][14][15] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Sólfar Studios". Sólfar Studios. https://www.solfar.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Kjartan Emilsson (2015-06-16). "Introducing Godling, a new VR experience coming to Project Morpheus". PlayStation Blog. https://blog.playstation.com/archive/2015/06/16/introducing-godling-a-new-vr-experience-coming-to-project-morpheus. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 John Gaudiosi (2016-04-24). "Now Anyone Can Climb Mount Everest in VR". Fortune. https://fortune.com/2016/04/24/climb-mount-everest-vr. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Scott Hayden (2018-09-18). "Bowshooter 'In Death' Launches Out of Early Access With 'Paradise Lost' Update on October 2nd". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/?p=168080. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Joakim Achren (2020-09-14). "EGD 069: Thor Gunnarsson, Mainframe Industries". Elite Game Developers. https://elitegamedevelopers.substack.com/p/egd-070-thor-gunnarsson-mainframe-industries. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Paul James (2015-11-11). "Sólfar Secures $2.1M to Recreate Everest in VR and Get You to Climb it". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/solfar-secures-2-1m-to-recreate-everest-in-vr-and-get-you-to-climb-it/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ MCV Staff (2016-03-02). "Sólfar Studios uses Granite for Everest VR". MCV/Develop. https://www.mcvuk.com/development-news/solfar-studios-uses-granite-for-everest-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Jamie Feltham (2017-02-14). "Everest VR Is Now Available On Rift With New Content". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/everest-vr-is-coming-to-rift-with-new-content/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "EVEREST VR on Steam". Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/384750/EVEREST_VR/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Jason Venter (2017-10-03). "Scale the Infamous Mountain in Everest VR on PSVR". Shacknews. https://shacknews.com/article/101575/scale-the-infamous-mountain-in-everest-vr-on-psvr. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Northstack Editorial (2017-02-18). "Everest VR to be part of permanent Everest exhibit at the Royal Geographical Society". Northstack. https://www.northstack.is/everest-vr-to-be-part-of-permanent-everest-exhibit-at-the-royal-geographical-society/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Ben Lang (2017-12-18). "'In Death' is a Medieval Roguelike Bow-shooter from 'EVEREST VR' Developer Sólfar Studios". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/in-death-vr-solfar-studios-medieval-roguelike-bow-shooter/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ "In Death on Steam". Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/605450/In_Death/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Ben Lang (2018-11-27). "Roguelike Bow-shooter 'In Death' Now Available on PSVR". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/?p=168378. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Harry Baker (2020-07-23). "In Death: Unchained Review - A Staple Roguelike For The Quest System". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/in-death-unchained-review/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- ↑ Chris Kerr (2021-11-30). "Mainframe Industries nets $23 million to create cloud-native MMO". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/mainframe-industries-nets-23-million-to-create-cloud-native-mmo. Retrieved 2026-10-15.