Space Dust Studios / Varkian Empire

Factsheet

Developer:
Space Dust Studios / Varkian Empire
Based in Melbourne, Australia

Founding date:
February 22, 2013

Website:
spaceduststudios.com

Press / Business Contact:
press@spaceduststudios.com

Social:
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
LinkedIn
Skype

Releases:
Obliteracers

Phone:
+61 401 482 120

Description

Space Dust Studios Pty Ltd is a video game developer from Melbourne, Australia. The company trades internationally as Varkian Empire. The team are former developers from Visceral Games, Crystal Dynamics and Atari, and have contributed to franchises such as Battlefield, Need For Speed, Tomb Raider, Dead Space, Burnout and Silent Hill. They are currently working on their debut party combat racer "Obliteracers" for PC, Xbox One and PS4.

History

Space Dust Studios was founded in 2013 by veteran game developers Nathan Thomas, Michael Davies, Grigor Pedrioli, Glen Stuart, and Stephen Honegger. Prior to Space Dust Studios the team had worked together for over a decade on AAA titles for Electronic Arts, Crystal Dynamics, Transmission Games and Atari Melbourne House. During this time they contributed to franchises including Battlefield, Need For Speed, Tomb Raider, Dead Space, Burnout and Silent Hill. The closure of Visceral Games Australia was the catalyst that led to the birth of their own studio and its creative vision: to independently produce PC and console games that live up to AAA expectations.

The studio began by prototyping two original IPs, leveraging their experience with multiplayer, science fiction and vehicular gameplay. They then pitched to investors within Australia and abroad. Their concept for an intergalactic party racing game was approved by Film Victoria Australia, allowing them to produce a vertical slice demo codenamed "Space Dust Racers" which featured one track and two characters from the final game. This caught the attention of Microsoft and Sony at GDC, who registered them shortly after as developers for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. They later titled the game "Obliteracers", and have been blogging candidly about their workflow and challenges.

With over 17 years experience in video game development, Nathan has worked across nearly every aspect of game art, including art direction, concept design, 3D, lighting and UI. He has also worked internationally at companies such as Electronic Arts and Crystal Dynamics, and his passion is working with great people on cool ideas, creating worlds that are just as interesting as they are fun to play in.

Michael Davies is an all-rounder software engineer with over a decade of professional video games experience and a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Melbourne. He has worked internationally as a senior and lead gameplay engineer on a wide range of platforms, genres and titles. His areas of interest include gameplay, artificial intelligence, networking, audio, and user interfaces. Beyond his professional video games career, he has designed and released several independent video games for iOS and PC, and developed augmented-reality installations for retail spaces.

Grigor is a multi-disciplined Senior Artist with over 12 years experience in the games industry. An exceptional artist with extensive experience working as an environment artist, vehicle and prop artist, lighting artist, VFX artist and level designer. Grigor's games development career began as a quality assurance technician at Atari Melbourne House. The practical and technical knowledge forged during this time in QA has given Grigor a great understanding of all aspects of the games development process. Prior to games development, Grigor worked for many years in production management at some of Australia's premier video and film production companies.

Glen Stuart is a seasoned software engineer with a passion for graphics, rendering and optimisation. With close to a decade of professional video games development under his belt, working on a variety of titles, across multiple platforms and genres, he has gained experience performing in multiple programming roles. Whether as an engine programmer or a member of the core game teams, he has designed, implemented and maintained systems including large scale rendering, lighting, particle and effects systems, as well as animation, math and core systems. In other roles he has been tasked with research and development, prototype development, creating exciting gameplay mechanics and AI for single player and networked multi-player games. Working closely with artists and designers, he has helped create multiple AAA titles.

Stephen is a Senior Environment artist with over eight years experience in the games industry. Specialising in highly detailed environment models and props, Stephen is an expert 3D modeller and texture artist with an exceptional eye for detail. As well as working in games development, Stephen is a renowned video and installation artist who has participated in a wide range of individual, collaborative and curated exhibitions in Australia and overseas. Coming from a fine art background, Stephen has an in depth understanding of the principles and elements of visual art, which greatly enhance the work that he produces as a digital artist.

Projects

• Obliteracers
  
  

Team & Repeating Collaborators

Nathan Thomas
Director, Creative and Art Director

Michael Davies
Director, Lead Gameplay Developer

Grigor Pedrioli
Director, Senior VFX and 3D Artist

Glen Stuart
Director, Lead Technology Developer

Stephen Honegger
Director, Senior World and 3D Artist

Contact

Inquiries
press@spaceduststudios.com

Twitter
twitter.com/spaceduststudio

Facebook
facebook.com/spaceduststudios

Australian Website
spaceduststudios.com

International Website
varkianempire.com