Variable State

Variable State Ltd (doing business as Variable State) is a British independent video game developer established in January 2014[2] by Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny, who are based in London, England and Dublin, Ireland respectively.

Variable State Ltd
Variable State
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FoundedJanuary 2014 (2014-01)[2]
Founder
  • Jonathan Burroughs
  • Terry Kenny
Headquarters
London, England
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Jonathan Burroughs
  • Lyndon Holland
  • Terry Kenny
Products
ServicesVideo game development
Websitevariablestate.com

Upon forming, the company was joined by collaborator Lyndon Holland, composer and graduate of the National Film and Television School, who Burroughs and Kenny met through an internet forum.[3] The company is owned by Jonathan Burroughs, Lyndon Holland and Terry Kenny.

The team began development of what would become Virginia in early 2014. Drawing inspiration from American television shows such as Twin Peaks and The X-Files and capitalising on Kenny's experience as an animator, Virginia progressed into a period interactive drama with an emphasis on characters and setting.[4]

In August 2016 it was announced that 505 Games would be publishing Virginia and that the game would be releasing on September 22 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[5] At the same time a demo was released via Steam.

On November 14, 2019, it was announced that Variable State's next game would be Last Stop. The title will be published by Annapurna Interactive and is scheduled to be released in 2020.[6][7]

History

Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny, the company's founders, were both developers at DeepMind Technologies in London until shortly before it was acquired by Google in January 2016.[8][9] Prior to DeepMind, Burroughs had developed for Rare and Electronic Arts on titles such as Kinect Sports and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. Kenny had been a developer at Rockstar Games, working on a variety of titles, including Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV.[10]

The team publicly announced development of Virginia in July 2014, releasing the first screenshots.[11] A prototype was later produced which was exhibited at the Future of StoryTelling summit and the EGX Leftfield Collection.[12][13][14]

Throughout development, the team regularly cited Brendon Chung's Thirty Flights of Loving as in inspiration, in particular for its use of real-time cinematic editing in the context of normal gameplay.[15]

On August 30, 2016, video game publisher 505 Games announced they would be publishing Virginia for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And communicated that the game would be releasing on September 22. The announcement coincided with the release of a public game demo for Steam.[5] A full length trailer was released on September 6.[16]

In an interview earlier the same year, Burroughs mentioned work had begun on the company's new game, which would not be a Virginia sequel. However, he indicated Virginia could be extended as an anthology series, quoting Fargo and True Detective as examples, indicating that there already existed outlines for wholly new Virginia stories.[1]

On November 14, 2019, Microsoft announced at the X019 event in London that Variable State's next game would be Last Stop. The game will be published by Annapurna Interactive and is scheduled to be released in 2021.[6][7]

Products
Year Title Platform Ref
2016 Virginia Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One [5]
2021 Last Stop Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S [17]

Accolades
YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2017 Develop Awards 2017 Micro/Start Up Studio Nominated [18]
New Studio Nominated [18]

References
  1. Weber, Rachel (2016-06-24). "Virginia Territory: Variable State's indie debut". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  2. Koper, Adam (2015-09-29). "A Variable State of mind". Nouse. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  3. Martínez, Víctor (2014-06-08). "Variable State: Virginia will be a reflection of who we are as authors". Anait Games. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  4. Smith, Adam (2014-07-08). "A Mysterious State Of Mind: Virginia Interview". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  5. Frank, Allegra (2016-08-25). "Virginia looks like a Twin Peaks fan's dream game, and you can try it now". Polygon. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  6. Tuttle, Will (2019-11-14). "Everything We Announced at X019". Xbox Wire. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  7. Harradence, Michael (2019-11-15). "Variable State Unveils Last Stop For 2020 Release". Xbox Wire. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  8. Gibbs, Samuel (2014-01-27). "Google buys UK artificial intelligence startup Deepmind for £400m". Guardian. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  9. Weber, Rachel (2014-06-03). "Variable State: Indie is the real cutting edge of games". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  10. Conditt, Jessica (2014-07-01). "X-Files, Twin Peaks inspire 'Virginia' from ex-EA, GTA devs". Engadget. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  11. Webster, Andrew (2014-07-03). "If David Lynch made a video game, it might look like 'Virginia'". The Verge. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  12. Tase, Saif (2014-10-12). "Favorite Projects from the Future of StoryTelling Summit". Infospace. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  13. Reynolds, Matthew (2014-09-27). "EGX London 2014: Six alternative games to play at this year's expo". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  14. Borthwick, Ben (November 19, 2020). "12 Minutes, The Artful Escape and Last Stop delayed to 2021". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  15. Webster, Andrew (2014-07-21). "How Virginia uses the language of film to tell a different kind of video game story". The Verge. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  16. Purchese, Robert (2016-09-07). "Imminent thriller Virginia gets first proper trailer". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  17. Ronnell, Jessica (July 23, 2020). "15 New Independent Games Coming First to Console on Xbox Through ID@Xbox". Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  18. "Develop Awards 2017: The Finalists". Retrieved 2017-05-12.
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