nDreams Closes Two Internal VR Studios But Opens A New One Called Compass

nDreams has closed two studios as part of its ongoing restructuring program, bringing 40 staff members into its new 'Compass' studio.

Feb 9, 2025 - 21:51

nDreams is closing two studios as part of its ongoing restructuring program, bringing some workers into its new 'Compass' studio.

Following last September's news that the UK publisher would lay off employees in a new restructuring program, nDreams announced that two of its internal studios have now shut down: nDreams Studio Orbital and nDreams Studio. Speaking to Game Developer, the publisher confirmed that 40 members across both teams have formed a new team, Compass, while the remaining staff were laid off.

“As part of the strategic refocus that we announced in September, we regrettably lost talented members of our teams and also altered our multi-studio development structure,

“This unfortunately meant closing nDreams Studio Orbital and meant that nDreams Studio could not continue in its current form. Both teams did brilliant work and many people from those affected studios have been retained within nDreams’ new look structure, with several of those forming part of the new Compass studio.”

Compass is being led by former EA and Activision producer Callum Godfrey, and the 40-person team aims to target VR's younger audience by “rapidly prototyping games.” Game Developer's report states the studio will adopt a “democratic approach” to development, one that allows anyone on the Compass team to pitch new game concepts.

Recent years have seen nDreams gradually expand to four separate teams, alongside establishing a third-party publishing program. While nDreams Studio most recently delivered Synapse, the Orbital team focused on live service and free-to-play VR games. As for the two unaffected studios, Elevation focuses on AAA gaming, and Near Light launched FRENZIES in early access last October.

That expansion was later followed by Swedish group Aonic acquiring nDreams in late 2023, who purchased the studio for $110 million following a prior $35 million investment in March 2022. At the time, CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh advised that the studio's “core focus will remain unchanged.”