Why Transcend Invested In Stress Level Zero

After a decade of steadily gathering momentum, next-generation virtual reality gaming is lifting off. Year over year sales of VR devices have grown, and for development teams that understand this audience, software sales are growing too. Boneworks from Stress Level Zero is an excellent example of that. Upon launch, it quickly hit #1 on Steam and went on to be ranked in the highest tier of Steam’s ‘Best of 2019 Virtual Reality‘ revenue rankings despite having launched just two weeks before the list was published. VR gaming is more engaging than ever, transporting players to stunningly realistic digital worlds that represent a growing slice of the $178 billion annual global video game market.

Co-founders Brandon Laatsch and Alex Knoll saw the promise in VR back in 2014, and vowed to carve a path into this nascent, unexplored space. With no template to follow and no rulebook to consult, they relied on their own drive and ingenuity to create the Mad Max-style multiplayer shootouts of Hover Junkers, one of the early hits for Valve’s Vive headset. Today, TikTok and YouTube creators rack up millions of views showing off in VR leveraging their games.

A STUDIO THAT TREATS PHYSICS AS THE GAME

In Boneworks, nothing is scripted to look right; it has to work. Every object has weight, every weapon has heft, and the player’s whole body exists in the world, so climbing, swinging and fighting all follow the same rules. That is hard to build and harder to copy. Stress Level Zero built its own physics-driven interaction system to make it possible, and the team can carry that foundation into every game that follows.

ONE WORLD, MANY GAMES

Duck Season, released in 2017, is a horror adventure set in the summer of 1988 with seven different endings. Boneworks takes place in the same universe. Each game raises questions the next one answers. That gives fans a reason to stay with the studio between releases, and gives the team an IP that grows with every title.

A TEAM THAT HAS SHIPPED ON EVERY WAVE OF VR

Hover Junkers launched alongside the HTC Vive in 2016. Duck Season followed on SteamVR and the Oculus Store, and Boneworks on Steam and Oculus. Shipping original games across each new generation of headsets has given the team a rare understanding of what works in VR and what does not. That experience matters more than ever as VR moves from early adopters to a mass audience.

From the surreal, Spielberg-infused genius of Duck Season to the madcap physics-based combat of Boneworks, Stress Level Zero brings a sense of innovation to virtual reality gaming that truly sets the team apart. They fuse cutting-edge code, clever storytelling and a joyous sense of mayhem to create VR experiences that have earned them critical acclaim and diehard fans across the world, and Transcend is thrilled to support their journey.

UPDATE · SINCE WE INVESTED

DEC 2020   Boneworks earns Steam's Best of VR Platinum ranking for a second straight year. Steam

DEC 2021   Boneworks earns Platinum for a third straight year. Steam

JUN 2022   Bonelab revealed at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase. Read: VR's Most Important Game Yet

SEP 2022   Bonelab earns $1M in its first hour on Quest, the fastest-selling game in Quest history. Road to VR

DEC 2022   Boneworks and Bonelab both earn Platinum, a fourth straight year. Steam

DEC 2023   Boneworks and Bonelab both earn Platinum, a fifth straight year. Steam

DEC 2024   Bonelab earns Platinum, a sixth straight year in VR's top revenue tier. Steam

DEC 2025   Bonelab and Boneworks both earn Gold, a seventh straight year in Steam's Best of VR. Steam

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ABOUT SHANTI BERGEL

Shanti is the founding partner of Transcend and a 35 year game industry veteran. His global operating experience spans every major platform and business model transition of the last several decades and is animated by a career-long fascination with how changes in technology and distribution affect products, services, and communities. Shanti is a recognized member of the Techcrunch List, speaks fluent Japanese, and is a frequent speaker on early stage investment, M&A, and strategic partnerships in digital entertainment.

ABOUT TRANSCEND

Transcend is a top quartile early-stage venture firm that backs AI-native entrepreneurs building the next generation of interactive entertainment. In a $263B global industry where AI is rewriting the economics, we partner with the founders leading that shift from pre-seed through Series A. Founded in 2020 by veterans with 70+ years of operator experience and $10B+ in lifetime revenue. Learn more at transcend.fund and follow us on LinkedIn.