Fast Travel Games is thriving with the boom of virtual reality gaming

About six years ago, a handful of game industry veterans were considering launching their own studio to create games for virtual reality experiences. Fast forward to 2022, and Fast Travel Games now employs more than 50 people who have already created six games in the VR space.

Fast Travel Games CTO Kristoffer Benjaminsson says it was an easy decision to switch tracks. Benjaminsson co-founded the company alongside former EA/DICE colleagues, Oskar Burman and Eric Odeldahl.

“VR is a new technology for sure, we’ve been around for six years but still super early in the grand scheme of things,” Benjaminsson said, comparing virtual reality to the early days of the internet. “I think VR will have the same kind of trajectory, and when you look back at VR in 10 to 20 years, we’re just going to laugh at what we’re doing today.”

Analysts expect virtual reality gaming revenue worldwide to grow from $400 million in 2017 to $2.4 billion by 2024. Many companies are helping lead the industry by developing headsets and software to make VR games more accessible to more people.

Benjaminsson says seeing large companies like Meta and Sony invest massive amounts of money into virtual reality is a clear signal for Fast Travel Games that VR wasn’t just a fluke, and that the technology is here to stay for a long time.

“So for us, going to standalone VR, we were just waiting for that to happen,” Benjaminsson said. “Our legacy coming from EA and DICE has always been cross-platform development.”

“Sweden has a big legacy when it comes to games”

The Stockholm-based startup is known for its games including Apex Construct and Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife, and brought in $4 million in new investments last year.

Fast Travel Games is also working on more publishing partnerships, and expanding on its own IPs.

“We’ve gone from being a one-game studio to a multiple-game studio, so we will keep that trajectory,” Benjaminsson said. “You will see a lot more games coming from us, and obviously we think we will be one of the bigger players in this space.”

Benjaminsson says Sweden has a big legacy when it comes to video games, and Swedes like to jump on new technologies. There are 667 video game companies in Sweden as of 2021, which collectively employ nearly 5,600 people.

He believes Sweden, with its deep connection to the gaming industry, will play a key role in how virtual reality looks in the future.

“That’s why I love gaming as well, is that we are often pushing the boundaries of what you can do with technology at times,” Benjaminsson said.