SEATTLE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2024 – Independent game development studio Windup Minds unveiled Stay: Forever Home, a Mixed Reality pet experience featuring the groundbreaking virtual companion, Ember, at yesterday’s UploadVR Showcase. Designed to foster genuine connection, combat isolation, and promote emotional well-being, Stay: Forever Home brings this magical creature into players’ homes. Players learn to care for Ember, share activities, and explore her enchanting VR world together.
Blending Virtual and Augmented Reality with cutting-edge AI technology and charming gameplay, Windup Minds is crafting a new generation of dynamic and unique virtual pets that feel truly real. By sharing activities such as petting, feeding, and playing in an augmented home environment, or exploring the mystical Otherlands, Ember’s virtual world, players and their creature companion forge a meaningful bond. Like a real pet, Ember’s responsiveness and nuanced interactions emerge over time and through consistent engagement, deepening the emotional connection and enriching the player’s experience.
“We love our pets for their personality - their idiosyncrasies. There’s a magical power when we try to understand each other, across the vast divide between species,” said Bernie Yee, CEO of Windup Minds. “Dogs, cats or rabbits – we love to tell stories around their personalities – trying to understand them deepens our attachment. That is at the core of what we’re creating with Ember.”
The Windup Minds team – comprised of talent that has held positions at Meta/Oculus, Magic Leap, Microsoft Hololens, Harmonix, Wevr, Niantic, PopCap, Electronic Arts, Bungie, Arkane, and more – brings a deep understanding of game design, player engagement, compelling storytelling to the project. In addition to its collective track record of successful games, the team has an extensive background in Virtual and Mixed Reality, working on innovative titles such as the Oculus Quest experiences Bogo and First Steps, Niantic Labs’s Peridot, and Wevr’s theBlu. The studio is dedicated to delivering quality game experiences that not only entertain but inspire empathy and move the medium forward with embodied design and interaction.
The First Game to Love Its Players Back
With that shared commitment in mind, Stay: Forever Home has been crafted as a cozy space for emotional expression, where players can enhance their own home environments, and earn accessories and customization for their unique Ember. The whimsical environment and relaxing gameplay create a feeling of mindfulness and connection. Cooperatively working together with the virtual companion and developing a real bond helps fight isolation
“Studies have long touted the overall health benefits of pet ownership. But anyone who’s come home after a long day at work or travel to a pet bursting with happiness to see them already knows this,” continued Yee. “We were inspired to create Ember by our experiences with our own pets and believe that games can deliver something more fundamental than achievements and high scores – they can make you feel loved.”
Stay: Forever Home will release for the Meta Quest 2, 3, and 3S headsets in 2025. For more information visit the Meta store page, https://stay-foreverhome.com/ or www.windupminds.com.
Join the game’s community on Discord to try the Alpha and foster your own Ember. Follow Stay: Forever home on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Bluesky, X, Or follow the Windup Minds dev team on X, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, and LinkedIn.
About Windup Minds
Founded in June 2023, Windup Minds is an independent game studio dedicated to crafting innovative virtual pet experiences that foster genuine connection and combat isolation. The company comprises veteran game developers passionate about creating digital experiences with universal appeal, endless fun, and enduring meaning. Following last summer’s $1.7 million pre-seed funding raise, the studio is working on its first Mixed Reality title, Stay: Forever Home, slated for release in 2025 for Meta Quest headsets.
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Additional Resources:
Stay: Forever Home Reveal Trailer: https://youtu.be/h28qNlDUYkg