In the ever-growing universe of virtual reality (VR), one game has managed to raise the bar on what can be done in the Horizon Word. “Super Rumble,” debuted in July 2023 on the Horizon Worlds platform, is not merely a game—it is a journey to the future of social VR gaming that is being created with the creative magic of Ouro Interactive, the in-house studio of Meta. At the top of the league of visual spectacles that is Super Rumble is Tian Qiu, a veteran Senior VFX Artist, who has been instrumental in the creation of this highly immersive experience.
Super Rumble raises the bar in the VR universe by allowing players to have never seen tactical depth and personalization through six different super powers, such as the devastating Super Punch and the lightning-fast Super Dash in this game. The players face a new challenge of tactical combat where they need to win against their opponents by outdoing each other in a visually rich and unique set-up designed by Tian and his team at Ouro Interactive. It brings VR games to another level, combining action gaming with socializing features.
Tian was a crucial player in this exciting venture. To develop and tweak the visual effects necessary for the superpowers to be visually immersive and optimized for VR performance , Tian combined the aesthetic with the performance. This fine balance guarantees that Super Rumble delivers the best of inter-gameplay interaction and fun that is unmatched in the VR gaming ambience. ‘It’s the first time the team witnessed real players engaging with Super Rumble in the VR environment. Seeing players immerse themselves in the world that the team had spent months or even years creating, using the superpowers in ways that were both anticipated and surprisingly innovative, would be incredibly rewarding. This moment of transition from development to real-world interaction marks a turning point where the game truly becomes alive, transcending its status from a project to an active platform for entertainment, competition, and social interaction’, said Tian.
The environment Tian worked in as part of the team at Ouro Interactive was typical for startups – collaborative and innovative. The project sprinted ahead, moving the ideas that had been discussed from conceptualization to implementation stage. The high-speed setting presented a tough learning process, but it also brought a great opportunity for him to grow. He was asked to spread out of his comfort zone which in the long run made his knowledge and skill in VFX perfected.
The launch of Super Rumble was a time of the greatest joy and self-realization for Tian. Witnessing the players enjoying and interacting with the game in a VR environment seemed to feature the superpowers they dedicated months, sometimes years, improving on felt very rewarding. This was a defining point in the evolution of the game as it went beyond development to become a lively platform for both fun and social networking.
The commercial success of Super Rumble, which gained the status of the most popular player count game in Meta Horizon Worlds within its launch month, proves its appeal and the quality of its gaming experience. For Tian it was two birds with one stone, first of all, it was no less than a technological breakthrough for him and he was also learning as a professional. Working on the Super Rumble project has given him an insight into user interactions within immersive technologies which he considers a core learning for his upcoming work. Tian realizes an obvious difference when it comes to working on movies and games in the world of VFX. ‘Generally I think the goal in movies is to enhance the visual storytelling with high-quality effects, while in games, VFX also plays a critical role in gameplay mechanics, providing immediate feedback to players’ actions’, stated Tian while talking about differences between movies and games.
As time goes by, Super Rumble still enjoys its popularity and Tian Qiu’s work represents the pinnacle of the creative process that has dramatically changed the VR industry. The work he did for the project is not just a significant moment in his career but is the first hint of what direction interactive entertainment would take in the future, demonstrating that its future will be much brighter — virtual.
Details of the game:
Official press of the game:
https://www.theverge.com/23820366/super-rumble-meta-quest-metaverse-horizon-worlds
Official press of the company (Meta in-house studio Ouro Interactive)
