In July 2018, we announced Square Slice Studios’ creative partnership with Magic Leap, bringing years of conversations and creative development into public view. The venture brought us together with author Grant Morrison to develop entertainment content specifically for Magic Leap’s mixed reality platform.
Square Slice had been formed in 2016. By the time of the announcement, we were already an early Magic Leap partner and had spent several years in close discussion with its team about creative concepts and the possibilities of the technology. The public announcement was a milestone in a relationship that had been developing for a long time.
Insurgent’s Jonny Dobson and Craig Hunter worked closely with Grant throughout that period, exploring ideas for a medium in which stories could inhabit the space around their audience. Square Slice brought together Grant’s storytelling and our experience of interactive development, with the aim of creating experiences conceived for mixed reality from the outset.
That sustained creative collaboration was at the heart of the venture. It gave us time to develop ideas together and consider what this new platform could make possible for entertainment.
Looking back, the outcome was sadly different from what we had hoped. Magic Leap later shifted its focus towards business and enterprise applications, moving away from the entertainment sector. As a result, we were unable to bring the ideas we had developed together to fruition.
Although those experiences never reached an audience, the years of work with Grant and the Magic Leap team remain an important part of our studio’s history.
Further reading: The partnership announcement on Grant Morrison’s website.