Proceeds to Support Wildlife Warriors Worldwide
BOSTON — 27 Aug. 2021 — Revealed moments ago during gamescom: Studio live, IONIA, the first game in the Rhythm of the Universe adventure series about preserving the environment with the power of music from ROTU Entertainment, releases Thursday, 23 Sept. 2021 for Oculus Quest, PlayStation VR, and SteamVR for compatible PC VR headsets.
Save the Harpa, an endangered mythical being, by solving puzzles rooted in music theory. Hands-on interactions between VR controllers draw the sounds of sharp drum beats, soft bell tones, and other eclectic echoes from the flora and fauna of IONIA. Climb trees and zipline across ravines strewn throughout gorgeous environments. Saving the Ionian forest will require exploring this world and learning its rhythms.
IONIA’s combination of an immersive, exciting world and important message earned it accolades from across the gaming and entertainment spaces. The game won an award at Cannes XR Development Showcase 2020, part of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for another at Raindance Film Festival. In addition, Epic Games awarded an Epic Mega Grant to the title to support its efforts for showcasing Unreal Engine technology.
IONIA aims to create good vibrations in the real world and virtual reality, as five percent of proceeds from Rhythm of the Universe will benefit the environmental non-profit Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, founded in 2002 by Steve and Terri Irwin. With support from the explorers of IONIA, we are helping to protect wildlife and wild places all over the planet.
“We are proud to be working with the team at ROTU to engage the virtual reality explorers of IONIA in the conservation of this planet’s precious wildlife and wild places. Thank you for supporting Wildlife Warriors Worldwide in the protection of injured, threatened, and endangered wildlife everywhere,” said wildlife conservationist and photographer Robert Irwin.
“We had to make sure we didn’t just have a conservationist message without putting our money where our mouths are,” said Jason Parks, ROTU CEO. “When you’re virtually ziplining and trying to find your rhythm, just know that you’re supporting a great organization in Wildlife Warriors.”
Rhythm of the Universe: IONIA releases 23 Sept. on the Oculus Store for Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 via backward compatibility, and Steam VR for Valve Index, Oculus Rift S, HTC Vive, Vive Pro, and HP Reverb G2 with English, Spanish, French, Simplified Chinese, and German language support. IONIA is rated E for Everyone and equivalent in regions around the world.
For more information about Rhythm of the Universe: IONIA, please visit the official website, follow the game on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and join the official community on Discord.
About ROTU Entertainment
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, ROTU Entertainment is an immersive entertainment studio striving to define the future of storytelling. A fully-remote, ever-evolving network of artists, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders provides ROTU Entertainment with unparalleled access to talent, creativity, and innovation. The team comprises developers with experience working at Valve and Capcom, as well as on renowned games such as Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, and République. ROTU Entertainment currently works on IP development as well as pre visualization and virtual production using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
Learn more about ROTU Entertainment and its upcoming title Rhythm of the Universe: IONIA by visiting the company website or reading an interview on UnrealEngine.com.
About Wildlife Warriors Worldwide – USA
Wildlife Warriors Worldwide – USA was established in 2002 by Steve and Terri Irwin as a way to include and involve other caring people in the protection of injured, threatened or endangered wildlife – from the individual animal to an entire species. The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital is one of the many global conservation projects supported by Wildlife Warriors. Visit https://www.wildlifewarriors.org for more information.
