Another sad one today, unfortunately. Back in July, Polyarc released Moss: The Forgotten Relic, a new version of the original two games combined together that ditched its VR headset origins. Now, unfortunately, it sounds like the studio is shutting down, as the developer’s LinkedIn page shared a message this week noting it’s ending “active development.”
“Today is the end of an era for Polyarc,” reads the statement. “After nearly 12 years riding the joyous rollercoaster of emotions that is making video games, our time together has come to an end. As we wind down active development, we are saying our farewells to each other. Working together over all of these years has been an honor. Bringing surprise and delight to those who played our games has been a privilege. Thank you to everyone at Polyarc, our work is now finished.” A link to a spreadsheet containing contact information for the whole team was included as well for studios that may be hiring.
Founded in 2015, Polyarc’s first game was Moss, a VR adventure puzzle game about a mouse called Quill who’s out to save her uncle that was released in 2018. A sequel, Moss: Book 2, released in 2022, with both games being met with critical acclaim. Prior to the release of the pseudo-remaster The Forgotten Relic, Polyarc also released an online, competitive strategy VR game set in the same world as Moss last year called Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss. Unfortunately, based on the very few reviews the game has, it does not appear to have sold all that well.
Presumably The Forgotten Relic did not perform well enough to keep the studio afloat either, but the lack of details regarding the studio’s closure makes it hard to say. The world of VR has never been the big hit that many wanted it to be, but at the very least Polyarc did manage to stick it out for over a decade, and that’s commendable. Solidarity with those affected.