After six years , Google is shut downSpotlight Stories , its in - menage immersive entertainment studio apartment . What exactly was Spotlight Stories , you ask ? Fair question . Unless you ’re an avid virtual reality enthusiast , there ’s a good chance you ’ve never even heard of Google ’s attempt at creating 360 - degree short films for smartphones .
An email from the studio ’s executive producer obtained byThe Hollywood Reporterreads , “ Google Spotlight Stories is shutting its door after over six years of making stories and lay them on phones , on screens , in VR , and anywhere else we could get away with it . The opportunity to contribute to story , animation and tech has been like gain ground the drawing . You ’ve all toy a part and I ’m so so majestic of the work we ’ve done together . Congratulations ! My cryptical gratitude to all of you . ” Meanwhile , Varietyalso cites a source enjoin staffers would get the prospect to apply to other occupation within Google , and that most artists employed by the studio were contractor rent on a by - project basis .
The studio was initially inherit when Googlebought Motorola back in 2011 . Over the preceding six years , the studio has released 13 inadequate films , some of which were pretty meretricious and affiliate with some big names . In 2015 , the studio apartment team up up with dissolute and Furious conductor Justin Lin for ahyperrealisticimmersive poor film calledHelpinvolving extraterrestrial obtrude upon Los Angeles . It ’s also collaborated on projects forThe Simpsons , Wes Anderson’sIsle of Dogs , and withAardman Animation(the studio responsible for Wallace and Gromit ) . It ’s also producedPearl , which received an Oscar nominating address for Best Animated Short Film in 2017 .
In a assertion emailed to Gizmodo , a Google spokesperson did not directly speak the Spotlight Stories ’ future and instead championed the divison ’s acquirement .
While there ’s no dubiety that Spotlight Stories created some gorgeous films , it may not have thought through the whole “ how do we make money off this ” thing . fit in to Variety , Google indue important funds into the studio , but it did n’t give any directive on how to monetize the poor films . Six of the studio apartment ’s film are only available through the Spotlight Stories app ( the rest you may find onYouTube ) , and when was the last time you actually saw anyone withGoogle Cardboardor aDaydream VRheadset in the wild ? And what just is bear on forward the immersive storytelling medium if … nobody is cognisant of or even see your subject ? It ’s not a problem confine to Google . In 2017 , Facebook also shut down its award - winningOculus Story Studio — another in - sign VR short film studio apartment .
It may just be that despite creating gorgeous VR content , there just is n’t enough affordable and approachable hardware out there to justify creating such labor - intensive films . And until there is , VR shortsighted films are essentially gaudy , cogent evidence - of - conception gimmicks that you say “ Huh , that ’s kinda neat ” and leave about 10 minutes after watching .
[ The Hollywood newsperson , Variety , The Verge ]
GoogleGoogle CardboardVirtual realness
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