Mixed Realms, Maker of Sairento VR

Part 12 in our Creator Spotlight Series

VR games have had some challenges in reaching wide adoption, foremost among them motion sickness. Sairento VR, the debut game from Mixed Realms, however, is one of the best-reviewed VR games currently available and a top-seller on Steam. Its success comes from its unique gameplay style inspired by samurai legend, and from its innovative handling of the motion sickness problem by allowing users to choose their means of transportation in the game.

Mixed Realms is a small studio based in Singapore, and Sairento VR is their first game. Aldric Chang, CEO at Mixed Realms, told me that GIFs are an essential part of the marketing strategy for the small game studio. “GIFs are a great way to showcase snippets of the best parts of our games. We create GIFs, upload them on Gfycat and embed the Gfycat files on Reddit and other social media platforms,” said Chang. “When we are lucky, we can get a lot of views and traction for our game.”

Chang said that sharing GIFs is one of the most effective ways of getting eyeballs on his game. “Gfycat makes it easy for us to share GIFs. We found that using it in combination with the right social media channels tend to get us a lot more traction than just uploading a video on Youtube or Facebook, especially since popular sites like Reddit are more GIF than video friendly,” he said.

GIFs are a lot friendlier to share than videos. And also GIFs allow us to extract the best bits of our games we want to showcase and make a statement. Essentially we use them to get us eyeballs for the action we offer in our games which hopefully result in sales.

Sairento VR’s distinctive action, inspired by Kill Bill and The Matrix, is a major selling point for potential buyers. Chang says Mixed Realms uses GIFs to showcase that distinctive action style and get the sale. “GIFs are a lot friendlier to share than videos. GIFs also allow us to extract the best bits of our games we want to showcase to make a statement. Essentially we use them to get us eyeballs for the action we offer in our games which hopefully result in sales.”

Not content with producing a game that reached Gold Category on Steam, Mixed Realms is currently producing two more games: a game for PC and mobile, and another VR game.