3lb Games is an American extended reality (XR), virtual reality, and mixed reality video game developer. The company was founded by musician and sound engineer Robin Moulder and game writer Colin McComb in 2008, first starting in mobile game development before moving to virtual reality in 2016.[1] In addition to its own projects, 3lb has also collaborated with other developers on redesigns of existing XR projects or bringing virtual reality implementations to traditional flat screen games. 3lb Games' team has been entirely remote since the company was created in 2008, with employees in multiple states across America.

History

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Prior to 3lb, Moulder was a musician, best known as one of the founders of the riot goth-girl group Jack Off Jill. She also played in the group TCR. She moved to Detroit, Michigan to serve as Chief Technology Office for a startup company before co-founding 3lb.

Colin McComb is a writer and game designer, best known for his work developing the Planescape setting for Dungeons & Dragons and as the creative lead for the role-playing game Torment: Tides of Numenera. He moved to Detroit with Moulder in 2000. They were married in 2001.

Early native mobile games development included Kidwords, a fast-paced spelling game available in English and Spanish, featured in Wired Magazine in 2009.[2]

Using a proprietary movement system, including a unique flight mechanic, 3lb launched Space Dragon, an action space shooter created for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive in 2017.[3] Space Dragon was later ported to the Meta Quest platform in 2022. [4]

3lb also acquired major game industry contracts, assisting in the development of well publicized and highly-rated computer games like Wasteland 2 & 3 and Torment: Tides of Numenera, and partnering with Monomi Park to bring their title Slime Rancher [5] to virtual reality in 2018.

3lb also provided its expertise to Greener Games, porting and optimizing their meditative experience Nature Treks (2019) [6] for mobile environments, a launch title for the first Oculus Quest headset. This title took full advantage of the 3lb movement system, allowing the user to walk through a calm forest or dive beneath the waves and swim with dolphins.

In 2019, Robin Moulder was selected for the Oculus Launch Pad program, and in 2020, 3lb Games won the Oculus partnership and grant for the project Vault of Stars. [7] 3lb Games also entered the Oculus Growth Track and qualified as an Oculus Independent Software Vendor (ISV). In 2021, 3lb became a Sony Playstation development partner.

In 2022, 3lb launched 3lbXR, a second company focusing on developing and accelerating spatial computing applications. In early 2024, 3lbXR introduced GroKit Core, a spatial computing & AI platform built on the principles of game design, to give enterprises and developers across all industry verticals a tool to create fully realized, hand-crafted XR applications and immersive business solutions.[8]

3lb released Grokit, a virtual and mixed reality hand tracking multiplayer party game, in September 2023.[9]

Games Developed

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Released Title Publisher Platform(s)
November 2014 Flipping Fish 3lb Games iOS, Android
December 2015 FPS.h.a.r.k. 3lb Games iOS, Android
December 2017 Space Dragon 3lb Games SteamVR, Oculus Rift, Meta Quest, Pico
November 2018 Slime Rancher VR Playground Monomi Park SteamVR
May 2019 Nature Treks VR Greener Games SteamVR, Oculus Rift, Meta Quest
February 2022 Vault of Stars (beta) 3lb Games Meta Quest
March 2023 XR Workout XRWorkout Inc Meta Quest
September 2023 Grokit 3lb Games Meta Quest

References

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  1. ^ "About Us". 3lb Games. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  2. ^ Olsen, Anton (July 9, 2009). "Kidwords for the iPhone Isn't Just for Kids". Wired.
  3. ^ "Space Dragon on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  4. ^ https://www.meta.com/experiences/3388893331234972/
  5. ^ "Slime Rancher: VR Playground on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  6. ^ https://www.meta.com/experiences/2616537008386430
  7. ^ https://www.meta.com/blog/quest/introducing-the-2019-oculus-launch-pad-scholarship-recipients-plus-2020-applications-now-open/
  8. ^ "GroKit Core". 3lbXR. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  9. ^ https://www.meta.com/experiences/3388893331234972/