SXSW Pitch Finalist: Virsix Games
The Forrest Four-Cast: February 23, 2020
One of 50 finalists for SXSW Pitch 2020, Virsix Games reimagines how people play together by remixing analogue play with cutting-edge emerging technologies such as AI, voice-activated smart speakers, augmented reality, near field communication, machine learning techniques and more.
Co-founded by Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari) and Zai Ortiz (Hollywood creative director behind J.A.R.V.I.S. in Iron Man), the award-winning, interactive gaming and entertainment company is creating the next generation of gaming, play and immersive entertainment through rich storytelling and boundary-pushing technologies.
Their products range from interactive toys, board games, card games and unparalleled immersive experiences.
At CES 2020, the Virsix game St. Noire, the world’s first Alexa-powered murder mystery board game, won the Best of Innovation Award in Gaming along with 2020 Kapi Award for Best Use of Emerging Technologies. In 2019, Ortiz took home Best-in-Show Gold Award for Virsix’s pioneering work with voice-controlled gaming at the Alexa Conference.
St. Noire features multiple storylines and endings, immersive sound design and cinematic voice performances from over a dozen voice actors, with more than 2500 lines of spoken dialogue via Amazon Alexa.
See the pitch at SXSW in category of Entertainment & Content Technology, 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm Sunday, March 15, before a live audience and a panel of expert judges.
Winners in each of the 10 categories will be announced at the Pitch Awards Ceremony, at 6:30 pm Sunday, March 15. SXSW attendees are also invited to Meet the Finalists from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Monday, March 16. All SXSW Pitch events take place at the Hilton Austin Downtown.
Ortiz talked about what’s amazing about L.A., why patience is overrated, and why he’s so passionate about Virsix Games.
What is your top goal for Virsix Games for 2020?
To continue to push the limits of emerging tech with games that bring people together in new ways. We want to teach people about the technology and show them how it will change games for them forever.
Tell us your favorite thing about being based in Los Angeles.
L.A. is an amazing place to be because of the sheer entrepreneurial community across different hi-tech industries. You really do feel like you’re in this creative epicenter where people are doing new, crazy, cool, unbelievable things almost every day. And that makes us push ourselves that much harder.
With the exception of Virsix Games and St. Noire, what tech trend is your team most excited about?
It’s not the most novel answer, but I don’t think we can overestimate the impact AI will continue to have in the years ahead. Especially as the software catches up to the hardware. In particular, in voice-first applications AI is set for a watershed moment as we learn how to streamline the game development process, and fully take advantage of the technology.
What will be the most overhyped tech trend of 2020?
Well, I think in terms of overused buzzwords you certainly saw everyone and their mother talk about ‘blockchain’ last year, regardless of whether or not it made sense for their platform or product. But the technology itself is amazing, and hardly what I’d call overhyped. It’s just that all of a sudden everyone wanted that word associated with their company, instead of necessarily looking at it as a tool that may or may not be able to help you achieve what you need to.
If you weren’t working for Virsix Games, what would you be doing?
I’d probably go back to making movies, pushing the technology in that medium. But the reason I’m so passionate about Virsix Games is that we’re not just using emerging tech to refine and iterate existing applications of tech, we’re actually on the frontier, making something new. Teaching people to play and experience in new ways.
What do you think is the most overrated virtue?
Patience. It’s easy to mistake it for passivity. I can’t sit around and wait for the future. I want it now.
Look for more interviews with other finalists in this space between now and the start of SXSW Pitch on Saturday, March 14. Visit this page to see all previous interviews in this series as well as a list of all finalists.
If you are an entrepreneur, check out the SXSW 2020 Startups Track, which runs March 13–17. This track brings together founders and funders and showcases exciting new companies, products, services, and business models across different verticals and industries.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
