Ramen VR (S19) - YC Tech Talks: Gaming 2020 (November 9th, 2020)

Company and Product Overview

• Raman VR is co-founded by Andy and Lauren, with a primary focus on developing Zenith, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) VR world.
• Zenith is positioned as a fusion of action-adventure and open-world genres, drawing comparisons to Dark Souls and World of Warcraft but designed exclusively for VR.
• Core gameplay features include:
  • Hyper-immersive combat mechanics such as parrying with cold steel.
  • Spellcasting animations (e.g., "slamming a staff like Gandalf").
  • Time-slowing mechanics to dodge bullets.
• The backend technology stack is engineered to be infinitely scalable, supporting a theoretical limit of limitless world creation.
• Strategic Vision: The long-term goal is to evolve Zenith into a metaverse platform enabling users to create, host, and play within their own virtual worlds.

Market Analysis and Trends

• Market Growth: The VR game market expanded from $300 million to an expected $1+ billion in revenue within a single year.
• Hardware Evolution: The leading VR device shifted from the Oculus Quest to the Quest 2 during this one-year period.
• Strategic Assessment: Raman VR identifies the VR sector as a rapidly expanding market that the company has significantly capitalized upon.

Financial Performance and Partnerships

• Kickstarter Success: Last year, Raman VR executed the most successful VR gaming Kickstarter in history, securing $280,000 in pre-orders.
• Strategic Partnership: In the current month, the company secured both funding and a marketing deal with Oculus.
• Partner Profile: Oculus is identified in the transcript as the "biggest player" in the VR space.

Hiring and Operations

• Active Recruitment: The company is currently hiring for the following roles to support development:
  • Environment artists.
  • Tech artists.
  • Graphics engineers.
• Contact Point: Prospective team members and interested parties are directed to contact Andy at andy@romanvr.com.