May 25, 2018
Today, we're making our exclusive focus on Flipside official by changing our name to reflect that focus and where it takes us as we look ahead.
Our existing social media accounts have been changed over too, so where you used to see Campfire Union, you'll now see Flipside. It's the same group of oddballs you've come to know and love, but this will help clarify our messaging across all platforms when sharing what we're up to these days and where we're heading.
But first, we want to share a little story of how we got here.
We started The Campfire Union in 2014 as three artists looking to explore virtual reality. We quickly realized that can mean a lot of things. One of the most exciting things about VR (and by natural extension AR) is how deep you can go in it. VR open up many new possibilities. I would argue most of which haven't been discovered yet.
With that goal in mind, we created Lost Cities, the world's first VR board game, we got to share what we learned from making it at Oculus Connect 2, and we got to collaborate with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to share the stories of two women's cooperatives in Guatemala with the world through 360 video. That's just to name a few of the many opportunities, connections, and friends we've made and had the fortune to collaborate with.
What people may not know is that prior to Flipside, we actually experimented with VR as a medium for performances several times before landing where we did. First through Party Sketch 3D on the Oculus Rift DK1, then Lightshow on the DK2, and again with Magic Synth on the HTC Vive. As artists and performers ourselves, it seemed the thing we kept coming back to was creating a way for people to express themselves through VR. In particular, to put on a show.
One of the earliest public demos of Flipside was in 2016, where we played a "guess the drawing" game with an early version of Flipside's magic pencil and a group of 20-30 people. Everyone had a ton of fun! Our characters and sets were very primitive still, but we witnessed the power of virtual and mixed reality performances.
After finishing Lost Cities in early 2017, we turned our entire focus towards Flipside. We joined Boost VC's Tribe 9 group of startups. That year saw the creation of early Flipside show Earth From Up Here with San Francisco-based comedian Jordan Cerminara playing Zeblo Gonzor, an alien newscaster delivering weekly updates about the strange things they see here on Earth.
This year we released Flipside on Steam Early Access on March 13, 2018, and Flipside on Oculus Early Access followed soon after. We've been blown away by the positive feedback from our growing creator community, and we've been working hard to bring you guys frequent updates and fixes to keep you creating!
In Flipside, we're building the future of VR entertainment, one where every user is given the tools to be creators too. Where imagination comes to life. Join us in making that future together.
Flipside is truly the natural evolution of The Campfire Union, and we will carry the same spirit and values with us as we move forward. Thank you to everyone who's helped us or cheered us on along the way.
To an end of an era, and we hope you'll all join us in the whole new chapter ahead!
Sincerely,
Flipside (formerly, The Campfire Union)
https://www.flipsidexr.com/
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