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Variable State Ltd
Variable State
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FoundedJanuary 2014; 10 years ago (2014-01)[1]
Founders
  • Jonathan Burroughs
  • Terry Kenny
Headquarters
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Jonathan Burroughs (CEO)
  • Lyndon Holland
  • Terry Kenny
Products
ServicesVideo game development
Websitevariablestate.com

Variable State Ltd (doing business as Variable State) is a British independent video game developer established in January 2014[1] by Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny, who are based in London, England and Dublin, Ireland respectively.

Upon forming, the company was joined by collaborator Lyndon Holland, composer and graduate of the National Film and Television School, who Burroughs and Kenny met through an internet forum.[2] The company is owned by Jonathan Burroughs, Lyndon Holland and Terry Kenny.

The team began development of what would become Virginia in early 2014. Drawing inspiration from American television shows such as Twin Peaks and The X-Files and capitalising on Kenny's experience as an animator, Virginia progressed into a period interactive drama with an emphasis on characters and setting.[3]

In August 2016 it was announced that 505 Games would be publishing Virginia and that the game would be releasing on September 22 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[4] At the same time a demo was released via Steam.

On November 14, 2019, it was announced that Variable State's next game would be Last Stop. The title was published by Annapurna Interactive and released in 2021.[5][6]

On June 9, 2024, Variable State announced at IGN Live that their next game would be Polaris, a co-op PvE shooter with fully destructible environments.[7]

History[edit]

Jonathan Burroughs and Terry Kenny, the company's founders, were both developers at DeepMind Technologies in London until shortly before it was acquired by Google in January 2016.[8][9] Prior to DeepMind, Burroughs had developed for Rare and Electronic Arts on titles such as Kinect Sports and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. Kenny had been a developer at Rockstar Games, working on a variety of titles, including Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV.[10]

The team publicly announced development of Virginia in July 2014, releasing the first screenshots.[11] A prototype was later produced which was exhibited at the Future of StoryTelling summit and the EGX Leftfield Collection.[12][13][14]

Throughout development, the team regularly cited Brendon Chung's Thirty Flights of Loving as in inspiration, in particular for its use of real-time cinematic editing in the context of normal gameplay.[15]

On August 30, 2016, video game publisher 505 Games announced they would be publishing Virginia for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. And communicated that the game would be releasing on September 22. The announcement coincided with the release of a public game demo for Steam.[4] A full-length trailer was released on September 6.[16]

In an interview earlier the same year, Burroughs mentioned work had begun on the company's new game, which would not be a Virginia sequel. However, he indicated Virginia could be extended as an anthology series, quoting Fargo and True Detective as examples, indicating that there already existed outlines for wholly new Virginia stories.[17]

On November 14, 2019, Microsoft announced at the X019 event in London that Variable State's next game would be Last Stop. The game is published by Annapurna Interactive and was released in 2021.[5][6]

On June 9, 2024, Variable State announced at IGN Live that their next game would be Polaris, a co-op PvE shooter with fully destructible environments.[7]

Games developed[edit]

Year Title Platform Ref
2016 Virginia Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One [4]
2021 Last Stop Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 [18]
2024 Polaris Microsoft Windows [7]

Accolades[edit]

Year Award Category Result Ref
2017 Develop Awards 2017 Micro/Start Up Studio Nominated [19]
New Studio Nominated [19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Koper, Adam (September 29, 2015). "A Variable State of mind". Nouse. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  2. ^ Martínez, Víctor (June 8, 2014). "Variable State: Virginia will be a reflection of who we are as authors". Anait Games. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  3. ^ Smith, Adam (July 8, 2014). "A Mysterious State Of Mind: Virginia Interview". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on July 22, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Frank, Allegra (August 25, 2016). "Virginia looks like a Twin Peaks fan's dream game, and you can try it now". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Tuttle, Will (November 14, 2019). "Everything We Announced at X019". Xbox Wire. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Harradence, Michael (November 15, 2019). "Variable State Unveils Last Stop For 2020 Release". Xbox Wire. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c LeBlanc, Wesley (June 9, 2024). "Polaris Is A Co-Op PvE Shooter Coming To PC This Year With Fully Destructible Environments". Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  8. ^ Gibbs, Samuel (January 27, 2014). "Google buys UK artificial intelligence startup Deepmind for £400m". Guardian. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  9. ^ Weber, Rachel (June 3, 2014). "Variable State: Indie is the real cutting edge of games". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on October 7, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  10. ^ Conditt, Jessica (July 1, 2014). "X-Files, Twin Peaks inspire 'Virginia' from ex-EA, GTA devs". Engadget. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  11. ^ Webster, Andrew (July 3, 2014). "If David Lynch made a video game, it might look like 'Virginia'". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  12. ^ Tase, Saif (October 12, 2014). "Favorite Projects from the Future of StoryTelling Summit". Infospace. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  13. ^ Reynolds, Matthew (September 27, 2014). "EGX London 2014: Six alternative games to play at this year's expo". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  14. ^ Borthwick, Ben (November 19, 2020). "12 Minutes, The Artful Escape and Last Stop delayed to 2021". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Webster, Andrew (July 21, 2014). "How Virginia uses the language of film to tell a different kind of video game story". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  16. ^ Purchese, Robert (September 7, 2016). "Imminent thriller Virginia gets first proper trailer". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  17. ^ Weber, Rachel (June 24, 2016). "Virginia Territory: Variable State's indie debut". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on August 31, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  18. ^ Ronnell, Jessica (July 23, 2020). "15 New Independent Games Coming First to Console on Xbox Through ID@Xbox". Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Develop Awards 2017: The Finalists". Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2017.

External links[edit]

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