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Survios

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Survios
Information
Industry Video games, virtual reality
Founded 2013
Founder Nathan Burba, James Iliff, Graham Matuszewski, Alex Silkin
Headquarters Culver City, California, United States (reported 2020)
Notable Personnel Nathan Burba (founding CEO), Seth Gerson (CEO from 2018), Alex Silkin (CTO)
Products Raw Data, Sprint Vector, Electronauts, Creed: Rise to Glory, The Walking Dead Onslaught, Alien: Rogue Incursion
Website https://survios.com


Survios is an American virtual reality game developer and publisher. It was founded in 2013 by Nathan Burba, James Iliff, Graham Matuszewski and Alex Silkin, who had built a full-body, portable VR system together as students at the University of Southern California in 2012.[1] A 2020 profile described the studio as based in Culver City, California.[2]

The studio's first game, the co-op shooter Raw Data, reached Steam Early Access in July 2016 and earned more than 1 million US dollars in its launch month.[3] Survios went on to make the arm-swinging racer Sprint Vector and a run of licensed VR games, among them Creed: Rise to Glory, Westworld Awakening, The Walking Dead Onslaught and Alien: Rogue Incursion. By October 2020 it had raised 70.9 million US dollars from investors including MGM, Lux Capital, Shasta Ventures and the South Korean investment firm Irongrey.[3][4] In May 2026, former employees reported that most of the development team had been laid off; Survios had not commented publicly at the time of those reports.[5]

Reviewed 6 October 2026. Founders, founding, funding rounds, leadership change, arcade figures, game release dates and platforms, and the May 2026 layoff reports checked against the archived Survios company page, Survios posts, TechCrunch, Variety, Road to VR, UploadVR, GamesBeat, dot.LA, Game Developer, Worthplaying, VGChartz and Steam. About review dates.

History

Project Holodeck and founding

According to the company's own timeline, Burba, Iliff, Matuszewski and Silkin were USC students in 2012 when they built what Survios calls the first full-body and portable VR system. The company says it raised seed funding and was founded in 2013.[1] TechCrunch reported in 2014 that Survios got its start in the USC Mixed Reality Lab, which counts Oculus founder Palmer Luckey as an alumnus.[6]

The team's early work went under the name Project Holodeck. Its hardware went through several prototype generations (Holodeck 0, 1 and 2, then Prime 1, 2 and 3). Road to VR tried Prime 3 in June 2014. It was an untethered system that combined an Oculus Rift HD headset with Razer Hydra controllers and PlayStation Move tracking, powered by a small backpack computer with integrated Intel Iris 5200 graphics, and it covered an 8 by 8 foot play area.[7] The demo for these systems was Zombies on the Holodeck, which the company says won three Proto Awards in 2014: Best Overall Experience, Most Transportive and Best Interaction Design.[1]

In May 2014 Survios announced a 4 million US dollar Series A round led by Shasta Ventures, with Mavent Partners, World Innovation Lab and Felicis Ventures also investing. Shasta founder Rob Coneybeer joined the board. TechCrunch described the company as a "Kinect-meets-Oculus-Rift": its system tracked the player's physical movements and placed them in a 3D world viewed through a headset.[6]

Raw Data and expansion

Raw Data launched on Steam Early Access for the HTC Vive on 14 July 2016.[8] Survios says it was the first VR game to reach 1 million US dollars in sales one month after release and the first to become the number one top seller across all games on Steam worldwide.[1] The game left Early Access with a full launch for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift on 5 October 2017, after 16 months of Early Access development.[9]

In December 2016 TechCrunch reported that Survios had raised 50 million US dollars across two rounds, one led by MGM and the other by Lux Capital. Shasta Ventures, Danhua Capital, Shanda Holdings, Felicis Ventures and Dentsu Ventures also took part, and MGM chief executive Gary Barber joined the board.[3] The company's timeline calls this its Series C, led by MGM.[1]

Survios revealed Sprint Vector in March 2017. The game was built around what the studio calls the Fluid Locomotion System, an arm-swinging form of locomotion in which players swing their arms quickly to sprint and guide their movement with outstretched arms as they jump and fly through courses. Road to VR contrasted it with comfort-oriented methods such as blinking or teleportation, which VR best practices then recommended.[10] It launched on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on 8 February 2018 and on PlayStation VR on 13 February 2018.[11] The music-creation app Electronauts, announced in December 2017 with the producer duo Stargate as a partner, followed on 7 August 2018 for SteamVR, Oculus Home and PlayStation VR.[12][13]

Arcades and new leadership

On 13 April 2018 Survios promoted its chief business officer, Seth Gerson, to chief executive officer. Founding CEO Nathan Burba stayed on as president. Variety reported that the change was part of a push into VR arcades. Survios had by then partnered with arcade operators in 36 countries, and earlier in 2018 it had opened its own arcade in Torrance, California, which used a Survios-designed VR pod called the Tesseract, built to encourage bystanders to watch.[14] In December 2018 the company said its location-based virtual reality business had grown from 200 locations in 36 countries to 500 locations in 42 countries within a year, with content licenses rising from 2,000 to 12,000 (figures that excluded China). It also said it reached about ten times as many people through arcades as through home VR.[15] The same year Survios set up Netvios, a joint venture with NetEase to distribute VR games in China.[1][15]

Licensed games

Creed: Rise to Glory, a VR boxing game made with MGM, came out on PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on 25 September 2018.[14][16][17] In October 2021 Survios said it had sold more than one million copies across all platforms.[18] Westworld Awakening, set during the second season of the HBO series, was developed by Survios and published by HBO and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on 20 August 2019 for PC VR headsets.[19] The company lists it as a D.I.C.E. Award finalist for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement.[1] Between those licensed titles Survios released an original game, the pirate naval-combat title Battlewake, on 10 September 2019.[20]

Survios announced The Walking Dead Onslaught in May 2019 as an original story made with AMC, with single-player and online co-op modes.[21] It was released for PC VR and PlayStation VR on 29 September 2020.[22]

Funding, cross-reality and publishing

In October 2020 Survios announced a 16.7 million US dollar round led by Irongrey, the investment arm of SeAH Group. Woori Technology Investment, KNET Venture Fund, Seoul Investment Partners, Samsung Next, Shasta Ventures and Lux Capital also invested, which brought total funding to 70.9 million US dollars. At the same time the studio named Mike Medrano vice president of marketing, TQ Jefferson chief product officer and Tate Mosesian art director.[4] dot.LA called the round a Series D and reported that Survios was moving beyond VR with what it called "cross-reality" games, starting with the non-VR Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions.[2] That game was announced in August 2020 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, and was released on those platforms on 3 September 2021, in collaboration with MGM and Koch Media.[23][24][25] Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey, made with Taito, came out for Oculus Quest on 20 May 2021. It has 100 levels and an online one-on-one duel mode.[26][27]

On 27 October 2021 Survios launched 2124 Publishing, a label that offers independent developers finishing funds, marketing, live-service support and help with platform holders. Its first signing was Romancelvania: BATchelor's Curse from The Deep End Games.[28]

Alien: Rogue Incursion

Alien: Rogue Incursion launched on PlayStation VR2 and PC VR on 19 December 2024. On launch day Survios said that a second part, which "continues Zula's story", was already in development.[29] The Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S version followed on 13 February 2025.[30] A non-VR adaptation, Alien: Rogue Incursion - Part One: Evolved Edition, was released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on 30 September 2025,[31] and on Nintendo Switch 2 on 21 April 2026; at that time a PlayStation 4 version was planned for the "near future".[32]

2026 layoffs

On 1 May 2026 UploadVR and Game Developer reported, based on LinkedIn posts from staff, that Survios had laid off most of its development team. A combat designer wrote that the studio "as it currently stands will be essentially shuttered", and a senior game designer on Alien: Rogue Incursion wrote that "the majority of the development team" was affected.[5][33] Road to VR noted that Survios had paused work on the Alien: Rogue Incursion sequel to make the flatscreen version, and had not spoken publicly about the sequel since.[34] Survios had not made an official statement at the time of those reports.[5][34]

Products

Title Release Platforms at release Notes
Zombies on the Holodeck 2014 (demo) Prototype hardware Tech demo; three Proto Awards[1][7]
Raw Data 14 July 2016 (Early Access); 5 October 2017 (full) HTC Vive (Early Access); HTC Vive and Oculus Rift (full) Co-op shooter; first Survios game[8][9]
Sprint Vector 8 February 2018 (PC); 13 February 2018 (PS VR) Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR Racing game with the Fluid Locomotion System[11]
Electronauts 7 August 2018 SteamVR, Oculus Home, PlayStation VR Music creation; PC multiplayer only[13]
Creed: Rise to Glory 25 September 2018 PC VR, PlayStation VR VR boxing, MGM license; over one million copies sold by 2021[16][17][18]
Westworld Awakening 20 August 2019 Steam, Oculus Store, Viveport Published by HBO and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment[19]
Battlewake 10 September 2019 PC VR, PlayStation VR (North America) Original naval combat game[20]
The Walking Dead Onslaught 29 September 2020 PC VR, PlayStation VR AMC license[22]
Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey 20 May 2021 Oculus Quest With Taito[27]
Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions 3 September 2021 Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Non-VR arcade boxing game[24][25]
Alien: Rogue Incursion 19 December 2024; 13 February 2025 (Quest) PlayStation VR2, PC VR, Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S Part Two announced as in development at launch[29][30]
Alien: Rogue Incursion - Part One: Evolved Edition 30 September 2025; 21 April 2026 (Switch 2) PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2 Non-VR adaptation[31][32]

XR work

Survios started out building its own VR hardware. By mid-2014 its Prime 3 prototype tracked the player's movements across an untethered 8 by 8 foot play area. The company's 2014 Series A was raised around this motion-tracking approach to VR games.[6][7] Its first commercial game, Raw Data, added cross-platform co-op during its Early Access development.[9] Sprint Vector and its Fluid Locomotion System were a studio-designed alternative to teleport movement for fast motion in VR.[10][11]

Arcades were a second focus. The studio's first check came from a VR arcade, according to Seth Gerson, and by late 2018 its games ran in about 500 VR arcade locations outside China.[14][15] From 2020 Survios also made non-VR games as part of what it called a "cross-reality" strategy. The company's timeline describes Puzzle Bobble as the first cross-reality title based on a major game franchise, and Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions as its first non-VR game.[1][2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Company". Survios. Survios, Inc.. 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20241212114236/https://survios.com/studio/company/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sam Blake (2020-10-09). "Survios Steps Outside of Virtual Reality to Build Games That Cross Worlds". dot.LA. https://dot.la/survios-steps-outside-of-virtual-reality-to-build-games-that-cross-worlds-2648148013.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lucas Matney (2016-12-13). "VR game studio Survios raises $50 million led by MGM, Lux Capital". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/13/virtual-reality-game-studio-survios-raises-50m-from-mgm-and-others/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Scott Hayden (2020-10-05). "'The Walking Dead: Onslaught' Developers Survios Secures $16.7M Funding". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/walking-dead-onslaught-survios-16-7m-funding/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 James Tocchio, David Heaney (2026-05-01). "Veteran VR Studio Survios Reportedly Sees Critical Layoffs". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/survios-reportedly-sees-critical-layoffs/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Colleen Taylor (2014-05-19). "Survios Snaps Up $4M To Lead The Next Generation Of Virtual Reality Tech". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/05/19/survios-snaps-up-4m-to-lead-the-next-generation-of-virtual-reality-tech/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Ben Lang (2014-06-11). "Hands-on: Killing Zombies with the Survios Prime 3 Prototype is a Blast". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/killing-zombies-with-survios-prime-3-prototype-video/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ben Lang (2016-07-14). "'Raw Data' Early Access Launch on HTC Vive, Survios Reveals Heroes, Weapons, and Abilities". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/raw-data-deep-dive-heroes-weapons-abilities-early-access-launch-htc-vive-survios/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Raw Data Officially Launches for HTC Vive & Oculus". Survios. 2017-10-05. https://survios.com/studio/raw-data-v1-pc-launch/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ben Lang (2017-03-01). "Survios' New Title 'Sprint Vector' Could be a Watershed Moment for VR Locomotion". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/survios-new-title-sprint-vector-could-be-a-watershed-moment-for-vr-locomotion/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Scott Hayden (2018-01-30). "'Sprint Vector' Gets February 8th PC Launch Date, Feb 13th for PSVR". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/sprint-vector-gets-february-8th-pc-launch-date-feb-13th-psvr/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  12. ↑ David Jagneaux (2017-12-14). "Survios Announce VR Music Creation App Electronauts". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/survios-announce-vr-music-creation-app-electronauts/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ben Lang (2018-07-31). "Survios' VR DJ Experience 'Electronauts' Coming to Rift, Vive, and PSVR Next Week". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/electronauts-release-date-rift-vive-psvr-price/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Janko Roettgers (2018-04-13). "MGM-Backed Survios Names Seth Gerson CEO, Founding CEO Nathan Burba Becomes President (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/survios-seth-gerson-ceo-1202752736/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Ben Lang (2018-12-12). "Survios Shares Momentum & Learnings in Location-based VR Business". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/survios-shares-strong-momentum-in-location-based-vr-business/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Jamie Feltham (2018-08-28). "Creed: Rise To Glory Is Coming To Rift, Vive And Arcades Next Month Too". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/vive-rift-creed-rise-to-glory/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Creed: Rise to Glory". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/804490/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Rachel Kaser (2021-10-19). "Survios reveals VR boxing game Creed: Rise to Glory has sold 1 million copies". GamesBeat. https://gamesbeat.com/survios-reveals-vr-boxing-game-creed-rise-to-glory-has-sold-1-million-copies/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Scott Hayden (2019-08-20). "'Westworld' VR Game Now Available on PC VR Headsets, Launch Trailer Here". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/westworld-awakening-launch-trailer/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 David Jagneaux (2019-09-10). "Naval Combat VR Game Battlewake From Survios Now Available". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/naval-combat-vr-game-battlewake-now-available/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  21. ↑ Scott Hayden (2019-05-14). "Survios & AMC Unveil 'The Walking Dead' VR Game, Launching Fall 2019". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/survios-walking-dead-onslaught-vr-game/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Jamie Feltham (2020-08-12). "The Walking Dead Onslaught Coming This September". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/walking-dead-onslaught-release-date/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  23. ↑ "Announcing Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions". Survios. 2020-08-26. https://survios.com/studio/announcing-big-rumble-boxing-creed-champions/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Rocky Balboa and Adonis Creed are coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and Steam in Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions on September 3rd!". Survios. 2021-06-11. https://survios.com/studio/big-rumble-boxing-release-date-announcement/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1278170/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  26. ↑ "Announcing Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey!". Survios. 2021-04-15. https://survios.com/studio/announcing-puzzle-bobble-vr-vacation-odyssey/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Play Puzzle Bobble VR: Vacation Odyssey Now on Oculus Quest and Quest 2". Anime News Network. Survios and Taito (press release). 2021-05-20. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2021-05-20/play-puzzle-bobble-vr-vacation-odyssey-now-on-oculus-quest-and-quest-2/.172985. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  28. ↑ "Survios Unveils New Division '2124 Publishing' for Independent Developers". Survios. 2021-10-27. https://survios.com/studio/survios-unveils-2124-publishing-for-independent-developers/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Scott Hayden (2024-12-19). "'Alien: Rogue Incursion: Part 2' is Already in Development, Survios Confirms". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/alien-rogue-incursion-part-2-in-developmentt-quest-3-psvr-2-pc-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Henry Stockdale (2025-02-13). "Alien: Rogue Incursion Is Now On Quest 3, With A Major Patch Coming Next Week". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/alien-rogue-incursion-quest-3-patch-1-01/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "'Alien: Rogue Incursion' Part One: Evolved Edition Also Comes To Xbox Series X/S, Coincides With PS5 And PC Launch - Trailer". Worthplaying. 2025-09-16. https://worthplaying.com/article/2025/9/16/news/147593-alien-rogue-incursion-part-one-evolved-edition-also-comes-to-xbox-series-xs-coincides-with-ps5-and-pc-launch-trailer/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 William D'Angelo (2026-04-21). "Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition Out Now for Switch 2". VGChartz. https://www.vgchartz.com/article/467600/alien-rogue-incursion-evolved-edition-out-now-for-switch-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  33. ↑ Chris Kerr (2026-05-01). "Report: VR specialist Survios has laid off the majority of its development team". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/report-vr-specialist-survios-has-laid-off-the-majority-of-its-development-team. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Scott Hayden (2026-05-04). "VR Veteran Behind 'Alien: Rogue Incursion' & 'Creed: Rise to Glory' Reportedly Shutting Down". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/survios-layoffs-shutttered-report-alien-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
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