“It’s offered a mirror to check how we’re doing,” Caspian Films on Investment Readiness and giving female auteurs a voice
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There are many roads to success. For gaming and software experts Future Tech Labs, that path is leading them to a place they believe will be the new central hub for audience interaction. It’s an area they’re already familiar with. Their previous success with the groundbreaking AR astronomy app Star Chart let over 50 million users explore and share their love of the universe, and now their flagship title – Multiverse – a sprawling Oculus VR title with over one million user-generated locations, lets players create and build their own Metaverses – worlds that others can visit socially. At the heart of each is a communal ethos that harks back to the controller-sharing gameplay of old – but one with digital innovation at its core.
“All of our work relies on cutting-edge technology that uses the latest trends and innovations to make each product stand out, that’s who we are as a company,” explains San Shepherd, CEO and Director of Future Tech Labs. “Our success is very much defined by what we believe is the future of gaming and interaction itself – which is social software and putting people right at the heart of it.”
A veteran of the video games scene, Shepherd produced big-name titles for big-name developers like EA before starting his own independent studio. This industry expertise helped him launch Future Tech Labs with no external funding and achieve quick success, with Multiverse generating over 750k sales of digital virtual properties in an open-world metaverse the size of Belgium. Despite these early achievements, Shepherd is eager to push things as far as they’ll go and by enrolling on our Creative Enterprise Investment Readiness scheme, he hopes to make this happen faster.
“Our goal has always been to find areas where nobody has had the opportunity to do something novel, unique, interesting, monetizable and mass market – and for us, we believe the future of all technology going forward is going to be social,” he tells us. “We’ve seen it in everything – even Google Docs – you can’t use productivity software these days without it being social,” adds Shepherd. “Irregardless of the area of technology, there’s going to be interaction with other users and putting social at the heart of our technology, software and games is going to be how we stand out.”
Finding ways to reach this goal through niche successes will also be key. It’s something that’s already materialised in the company’s work, with their new game The Flip offering users a socially led VR-shooter based on their own bespoke concept. “Our focus is on creating experiences that don’t directly compete with the tech giants, but instead offer something unique,” continues Shepherd. “For instance, in Multiverse, our advanced server-side technology allows us to stream assets into the game world on the fly, nearly eliminating load times – a significant pain point in VR, for example. This, combined with our open-world tech, allows us to create environments the size of Grand Theft Auto V or larger in standalone VR, puts us well ahead of the curve. It’s these sorts of innovations that have led to conversations with the big boys for potential development funding support on future products.”
Through Investment Readiness, Shepherd hopes to refine the way his company operates and optimise its already-successful output. “We’ve never had the available funds to properly market our products, and as a result, we’ve probably lost out on quite a bit of opportunity, money and success – we want to change that,” he says. “We’ve proven we can make great mass market products, now we need to do it at scale, with the right backing, and the right team behind us.” Shepherd continues: “We’re raising funds to amongst other things specifically hire marketing professionals and scale our marketing efforts.”
Despite having years of practical experience under his belt, he’s still willing to learn new things, something this company CEO is actively doing alongside his Creative Enterprise-assigned industry mentor. “It’s one of those things where you have to take a deep breath, and evaluate things from the point of view of how others see it,” says Shepherd of taking an impartial and honest look at the way his company works. “While we’ve successfully raised funds for The Flip through a limited royalty share without giving up equity, fundraising has never been a strong point. Thanks to listening to feedback from my mentor at Creative UK on how to structure a raise, we can position the raise with investor’s needs in mind. This, combined with our focus on marketing, social retention and innovative monetisation strategies, puts us in a better position than ever to grow.”
Elsewhere, having an outsider to validate your goals has also been reassuring for a small business operating in an uncharted space. “When you’re an independent business person, you’re constantly coming up with your own vision of the world and applying that to everything – but by having Creative UK to help evaluate whether you’re out of your depth or you’ve got a viable business plan has been key,” admits Shepherd. “For them to say ‘that’s nonsense’ or ‘that’s 100% correct’ is one of the most valuable things you can get.”
Despite Future Tech Labs’ early success, Shepherd is eager to see how evolving his working methods and gaining new insight can help push things to exciting new places. “I’d like to be in a situation where I’ve got a new skill under my belt,” he says, when asked where he’d like to see himself after his Investment Readiness journey. “I know how to make products, hire and manage teams and design games but I have little experience on the fundraising side of things. However, I’m working with people that can help me add a notch to my belt and make myself and my company more successful as a result.”
Words and interview by Simon Bland