PlayStation VR shipped in 2016. Two years later, Polyarc released Moss, a puzzle fantasy adventure featuring an adorable mouse named Quill. It ended up being nominated for a slew of awards and proved that virtual reality could be more than just a gimmick for creating new types of video game experiences. One sequel and a non-VR adaptation later, Polyarc is shutting down.
“After nearly 12 years riding the joyous rollercoaster of emotions that is making video games, our time together has come to an end,” the studio announced in a statement on LinkedIn. “As we wind down active development, we are saying our farewells to each other.”
It continued, “Working together over all of these years has been an honor. Bringing surprise and delight to those who played our games has been a privilege. Thank you to everyone at Polyarc, our work is now finished. Polyarc has been home to exceptional developers across all disciplines. If you are hiring, please see the link below.”
The VR market has not been kind to those who invested in it, including the ones like Polyarc that created genuinely great and worthwhile games that can’t be experienced anywhere else. Moss: Book II was released in 2022 for PS VR2. It successfully iterated on the combat and emotional beats of the first game, going on to win best VR game of the year at The Game Awards 2022.
But improvements to the technology haven’t expanded VR’s reach or the audience for games specializing in it. While companies like Valve continue to invest in new headset hardware, others like Meta and PlayStation have noticeably pulled back. Earlier this year, Polyarc released a version of both Moss games recreated for regular 2D TV displays, but much of the magic was lost along the way.
“Goodbye Polyarc, you (and Quill) will be remembered,” ex-PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida, who helped spearhead the company’s VR initiative, wrote on X. “We had great times together.”