First time support for Estonian VR game

Maru VRProductions, the developer of virtual reality experiences, is the first Estonian company to receive support from the game development measure of the Creative Europe MEDIA programme. Their game "Bootstrap Island" was allocated a maximum grant of 150,000 euros.

Although the program's support measures for the games have been open to Estonia for more than 20 years, Maru VR is the first Estonian company to have managed to receive this support. "We are very proud that we managed to get this support specifically for the development of a virtual reality game, because VR is in its early stages of growth in the gaming industry. Given the close competition across Europe, this is a big win for the Estonian VR community and also for the gaming development sector," said Lilit Palmar, CEO of Maru VR.

"Bootstrap Island" is a Robinson Crusoe-style survival game in which the player finds himself on a mysterious tropical island as a result of a 17th-century shipwreck, where he must quickly adapt to new circumstances in order to survive. The player must find food, drink and armaments on the island, repel wildlife attacks and learn about native customs.

"We're creating this game specifically for virtual reality and we're just focusing on engaging interactions and developing narrative. Thanks to VR technology, people can experience our created world in such a believable way that you may feel like you've actually gotten into adventure book events," explained Rein Zobel, the game's creative director.

Maru VR Productions is a VR studio that has created over 35 different VR experiences and games since 2016. These created games include, for example, "Kalevipoeg's Journey to Hell", "Flight Around the TV Tower" and "Music Journey".

Creative Europe MEDIA is a support programme of the European Commission that aims to strengthen the European audiovisual and new media industry and the international promotion and distribution of films. The development of films, series, video games and VR projects will be supported.

Read more about the grants and deadlines for the Creative Europe Games here.

You can read more about "Bootstrap Island" on the game's website www.BootstrapIsland.com and the game's Steam page.

More information about Maru VR: www.maruVR.ee

Additional information:

Lilit Palmar / Maru VR Productions CEO /Lilit.Palmar@maruVR.ee / 55522306
Rein Zobel / Maru VR Productions Creative Director / Rein.Zobel@maruVR.ee / 5043003

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