Sairento VR- What is it?

Since the Oculus Rift kicked the idea of Virtual Reality back into the gaming scene for the first time since the mid-90’s, it has become one of the greatest experiences a gamer can have. However, that all depends of what game the gamer is playing. It would be unfair to single out bad VR experiences out here, but as of right now there are more sub-standard VR games than actually good ones. These types of VR games induce motion sickness and seem to be built upon a bare bones idea of what VR can do. Ultimately this leads to some titles simply feeling like a gimmick. This isn’t always the case though, and this is where we introduce our game- Sairento VR.

Developed by us, Mixed Realms, and out now in Early Access on Steam, Sairento VR is a game that is sweeping the VR community. It’s hard to exactly describe what kind of game it is though. Yes, it’s a FPS game, but it’s not just a FPS game. Placed in the role of a “Silent One”, your mission in the current Early Access version of Sairento VR is to dispatch as many bad guys as possible. The Early Access version of Sairento VR currently doesn’t have much of its story in place, as this current incarnation is simply meant to show of what game mechanics we have created for a future full release later this year. Don’t worry though, the full game will contain a story, main campaign and also procedurally generated side missions. That’s right, Sairento VR won’t just have a stellar single player campaign with a compelling story, but it will also have an endless supply of side missions.

So as it stands right now, the Early Access version is here to give you a chance to experience our unique Sairento VR game mechanic. Movement in Sairento VR is different from other VR titles as instead of simply aiming and teleporting around your environment, in Sairento VR your character, depending on how far your moving, will either quickly move or jump in that direction. Though it may sound like an issue for those of us who are prone to VR sickness (myself included!), movement is slick, grounded and genuinely breathtaking. Whether you’re simply moving quickly towards an enemy or launching yourself 10 meters in the air, we’ve rarely gotten feedback from players who had motion sickness while playing Sairento VR. That said, we do offer a simple teleport option for moving around within Sairento VR, but to get the true experience we suggest sticking with the default option. On top of that the player can also hop off walls, slide on the ground and run along walls, all like a true Ninja. It’s really one of those things that needs to be experienced, but the sheer feeling of freedom, speed and deadliness in Sairento VR is utterly showstopping.

But in a game like Sairento VR you need weapons, and oh boy do we have weapons. Though some need to be unlocked within the game, Sairento VR boasts an armoury of pistols, shotguns and machine guns. Outside of firearms, Sairento VR also lets you take command of katanas too, and as you can equip whatever you wish onto either of your hands, when playing Sairento VR you can use two guns, two katanas or even spice things up with a katana in one hand and a powerful shotgun in the other. This custom choice of weapons, alongside the epic movement game mechanic, elevates Sairento VR into a realm of epicness that is unlike anything else you’ve played before. Couple this with the fact that you can collect loot and upgrade both yout weapons and your own abilities and it makes for a game that is some kind of a FPS and Action-RPG hybrid.

But wait, we’re not done yet. Top all of this off with a Matrix-like bullet time mechanic and you have one of the finest and most badass VR experiences to date. Picture it- you’re wall running past some bad guys while unloading a machine gun clip into them, only to bounce off the wall, jump towards them, activate bullet time mode in mid-air, take our your katana to reflect their incoming bullets, and plunge into them while swinging your deadly blades, resulting in a blur of blood and steel. It sounds incredibly in-depth, but this could happen in a matter of seconds. These kind of moments happen all the time in Sairento VR, and as with the updates that we’re rolling out on a regular basis the epic action of Sairneto VR will only continue to get more complex.

We’d love if you could join us on this mission to create the best, most action packed VR game to date. We’re open to feedback and hearing your thoughts, as we see this as a group effort. To all of you who have already joined us- thank you from the bottom of our hearts. To all of you have yet to join us- please take a look into what we’ve done so far and consider joining the Sairento revolution. You’re more than welcome in our community!

Sairento VR on Steam

Interview: Daniel Kihlgren Kallander of SVRVIVE Studios

SVRVIVE: The Deus Helix places you in the role of a recently deceased person who is granted a second chance at life. However, there’s a catch. The catch is that in order to win back your life, you need to work as an I-DBUG agent, someone who essentially leaps through time and different dimensions. It’s a thrilling, unique and enjoyable VR experience, and one that should be considered by every VR gamer out there.

Game designer and programmer on the title, Daniel Kihlgren Kallander, was nice enough to chat with us about his work on the game. Here’s what he had to say:

As a game designer, what interests you about VR?

Many, many things, as I guess is true for most VR enthusiasts out there! But, if I had to choose one thing, it’s the promise that we one day will be able to create worlds in which we can be the best versions of ourselves, regardless of who we are in this world. That might seem very wishy-washy, but dreams tend to be just that!

For now though, as a game designer in 2017, I simply try my best to help create worlds where players can feel immersed and have a good time. One of the best things with VR today is that level of immersion that you get compared to anything else available – that moment when you suddenly forget where you are in the real world, and just believe whatever digital world you’re in. Seeing players have that kind of moment in worlds that you and your team has created – you can’t get that anywhere else!

How did the concept for SVRVIVE initially come about?

Well, the initial concept for “SVRVIVE: The Deus Helix” came from our CEO and co-founder, Faviana Vangelius. She could probably tell this story in much more detail, but I’ve heard the story a few times now; she was out with friends here in Stockholm, and they decided to try an Escape Room for the first time. She’d already been aware of VR for a while and knew she wanted to do something with it, but it was in that moment she knew exactly what she wanted to do. Faviana then gathered what later became the other co-founders of SVRVIVE Studios back in spring 2016, and they set out to make the prototype for “SVRVIVE: The Deus Helix” (which also eventually evolved into the first mission of the released game).

Creatively, how did you go about choosing the types of different worlds the player could visit in SVRVIVE?

It was a very democratic process haha, involving everyone in the team. We wrote down a list of many many possible worlds and scenarios. Then, when time came to decide which worlds we would try to build, we collectively voted for and eventually selected what we thought were the best candidates for the first chapter of the game. When that was done, we decided the order of those missions based on both the type of world it was and what visuals it would have for optimal potential flow, and planned the puzzles and overall story progression after that (we already knew the story beats before selecting the worlds).

Can you name any games, films or other media that served as inspiration to SVRVIVE?

Oh, certainly. I already mentioned Escape Rooms (which is most apparent in the first mission), but games like MYST and Riven are other huge inspirations. Especially me and our Creative Director Nils are huge fans of Cyan and their games, and we wanted to capture that same feeling of puzzles that didn’t always need a text-prompt or something for you to figure out, and a world (or rather, worlds) that could surprise you and show you something new.

Ultimately, what was your goal as a game designer for SVRVIVE, and do you think you achieved it?

My personal goal was, and has always been when it comes to VR, to try to give players as great a feeling of immersion as I possibly can. That means making players believe in the world and making sure they don’t get taken out of it by neither the design nor the technology. As to whether we achieved those goals, I do think that we managed to get in a lot of things done right in a very short amount of time (prototype was started in May 2016, and the game was released in November 2016), but there were certainly some things we could’ve done better, but we keep patching after release.

SVRVIVE ends on a superb cliffhanger. What can you tell us about the next instalment in the series?

I don’t want to say too much, but I will say that “SVRVIVE: The Deus Helix” was just the start, in all kinds of ways… 🙂

VR is still in its infancy despite making some great advancements so far. Where do you see VR ultimately taking gaming?

Haha, I kind of spoiled the answer to this in the first question, but I do see VR being the driving force behind a lot of advancements going forward – not only for games, but for computing and entertainment in general. There is already an amazing amount of things we have created with technology that help people all over the world in their daily life. VR will bring those technologies and us closer to their and our full potential by creating worlds in which we all can thrive. I think that we will eventually stop creating worlds for us to escape reality, and instead create realities in which we can be our very best.


Thanks to Daniel for taking part! Congrats on the success of the game to SVRVIVE Studios!

If you’d like to purchase SVRVIVE: The Deus Helix, it’s available on Steam HERE

SVRVIVE Studios on Facebook

SVRVIVE Studios on Twitter

Are YOU a VR dev that wants to be interviewed? Email me at denis [at] MixedRealms [dot] com