Officials from major European developer Blitz Games (Burger King games) have announced that the studio has acquired the Virtual Experience Company, creators of virtual reality and 3D multimedia content focused on the cultural heritage sector.
The acquisition will allow Blitz Games to “spearhead a new area of business” and work with museums, galleries and cultural organizations looking to bring digitals content to visitors. The Virtual Experience Company is recognized for its real-time virtual visitor experience designed to enable visitors with impaired mobility to explore areas they were previously unable to access.
Virtual Experience Company founder Mike Gogan will head the new division within Blitz Games, known for its family friendly games like
Bratz,
Spongebob Squarepants, and
Karaoke Revolution presents: American Idol, as well as its recent trio of adver-gaming titles for fast food chain Burger King,
featured recently on Gamasutra.
The new acquisition also plays favorably in Blitz Games' plans for the serious games market as well. The company is applying its technology towards game development in the serious games space, primarily through a program funded by the UK Department of Trade and Industry designed to develop serious game prototypes and metrics to measure their effectiveness.
The acquisition of the Virtual Experience Company will allow the knowledge gained in that domain to be applied in the cultural and heritage sector where knowledge transfer is often a key target. The first virtual experience to be launched as part of this acquisition will debut at the Museums on the Web Conference in San Francisco in April 2007.
“This partnership brings the fantastic visuals and engaging, interactive and multi-player gameplay you get with video games to sectors that are increasingly interested in connecting with a digitally enabled generation,” commented Gogan. “We’ve always been at the leading edge of applying new technology in areas where it can make a difference and this initiative opens up really exciting possibilities.”
