Why WVS?

TL;DR: We scratched our own itch.

As interactive creators with over 90 years of combined experience, we’ve been all too familiar with the pain points of developing on game engines. Pains not due to the game engines themselves, but due to all the production processes and infrastructure required around them - slow iteration times, builds breaking, on-prem servers and infrastructure, and more recently, needing to manage distributed teams across time zones.
‍
In 2020, at the height of Covid, we were facing all these challenges while shipping a massive Harry Potter VR project. We kept asking ourselves the same question: Why isn’t there an off-the-shelf solution for DevOps specifically for game and real-time 3D development?
‍
The default solution today is DIY with a hodge-podge of tools like Dropbox, Putty, Jenkins and Perforce. These home-grown pipelines are typically hard-coded, scary to change in production, and expensive to maintain. Git-based workflows are very powerful and popular, but even platforms like GitHub which we love, are not designed for the complexity, size and specific requirements of game-engine-based projects. This leaves creators with too many balls in the air and boxes to check to build out an end-to-end studio infrastructure. And teams need to re-invent this over and over again.
‍
Setting up the studio infrastructure you need for game production and real-time 3D development requires IT expertise and as the project grows, a dedicated Devops team. Moreover, managing distributed teams should, in theory, be helped by the cloud. However, getting set up for game development in the cloud is complex and expensive, making it impractical for most dev teams outside of the major studios with deep pockets.
‍
Bottom line: We needed something better. Our entire industry and community needed something better. So we set out to build it.

WVS is a purpose-built cloud platform that makes it easier for teams to set up and organize their projects so they’re iterating faster, and feeling more productive and creative building on real-time game engines. We’ve lowered the technical bar required to set up and manage the studio infrastructure you need by providing a no-code adaptable solution that’s easily handled by a team lead.
‍
Our mission at Wevr has always been about enabling creators around the world, whether that’s in making games, immersive experiences or real-time 3D applications. We started exploring the idea of a virtual studio back in 2012, when we launched TheBlu digital ocean simulation. The underlying platform of TheBlu enabled 3D artists around the world to create ocean species in Maya or Blender and upload the assets to the cloud, easily publishing into a live virtual world. This was the beginning of a virtual studio.
‍
Today, game development continues to grow, UGC in games is more popular than ever, and companies across industries are creating real-time 3D virtual worlds and assets. More and more, it seems the next-generation internet is a network of interconnected real-time 3D worlds powered by game engines (aka, the metaverse).
‍
WVS is here for all of it - a home for interactive creators and studios, big and small. Welcome. We’re excited for you to check out WVS for yourself. Sign up here!
‍
Neville Spiteri, Marcel Samek, Anthony Batt