{"id":31967,"date":"2025-04-19T04:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T04:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/31967\/"},"modified":"2025-04-19T04:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T04:06:10","slug":"local-entertainment-professionals-to-release-new-vr-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/31967\/","title":{"rendered":"Local entertainment professionals to release new VR game\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canyon Country resident and film producer Julie Pifher Cawood and her husband, Michael Cawood, got a virtual reality headset to pass the time. Cawood said it helped the couple feel like they could get out of the house, exploring different virtual worlds while actually being stuck inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They are now planning on launching their first VR game called \u201cThe Phoenix Gene\u201d this spring.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The Phoenix Gene\u2019 is a story-based game that\u2019ll also be a six-book series,\u201d Cawood said in a recent telephone interview. \u201cWe just thought it was so cool, and just a wave-of-the-future technology that we should get into because of how we were personally affected.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Julie Pifher Cawood reviews notes of the new virtual reality game she created with her husband, Michael Cawood, in her home office on April 9, 2025 in Canyon Country, Calif. Katherine Quezada\/The Signal<\/p>\n

The game is based on a screenplay she wrote in 2016 that the couple tried to produce. Cawood said she never liked the ending but always loved the idea. It was a project that was ultimately never produced as a film.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But when she and her husband began thinking of doing something in VR, that screenplay came to mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Phoenix Gene\u201d will allow VR gamers to fly a time-traveling Phoenix through the multi-verse on a mission to stop what\u2019s called Life Rite\u2019s immortality serum from annihilating the poor and oppressed. Those who play the game can get physical by dodging obstacles, reaching for collectibles and power-ups, and protecting innocents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to product literature, \u201cThe Phoenix Gene\u201d is an action-packed shooter game that\u2019s infused with strategy, allowing players to toggle what\u2019s in their reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cawood and her husband funded the game personally. Both currently work in the entertainment industry. Cawood comes from the live-action TV world, having produced, among other projects, TLC\u2019s 2015-16 series \u201cMy Giant Life.\u201d Her husband comes from the animation world, having worked on films like 2006\u2019s \u201cHappy Feet\u201d and 2016\u2019s \u201cPete\u2019s Dragon.\u201d The two of them created the 2019 Oscar-qualified animated short \u201cThe Wrong Rock.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: Julie Pifher Cawood and Michael Cawood on April 9, 2025 in Canyon Country, Calif. Katherine Quezada\/The Signal<\/p>\n

According to Cawood, the couple\u2019s recent foray into the VR gaming world, while still untested, won\u2019t be their last. Cawood hopes to do more projects in the medium. The success of the \u201cThe Phoenix Gene\u201d will ultimately determine how they approach their next project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, just shipping this project is a big accomplishment, and we\u2019re proud of what we\u2019ve crafted,\u201d Cawood said. \u201cThat is definitely first and foremost. But of course, we would like it to be a commercial success that\u2019s profitable, because that can help us make the next one. We are self-funded, and so, the success of this one will help us determine the scope of the next one, really. But I think no matter what, we want to make another one, and we\u2019ll figure out what we can make on what budget. But obviously, yeah, the more successful it is, the bigger the scope for the next one will be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information, go to bit.ly\/3FUMBqE<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The Virtual Reality Meta Quest headset needed to play Julie Pifher Cawood and Michael Cawood\u2019s new VR game set to release in the upcoming weeks. April 9, 2025. Katherine Quezada\/The Signal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canyon Country resident and film producer Julie Pifher Cawood and her husband, Michael Cawood,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3162],"tags":[53,16,15,3243,3244],"class_list":{"0":"post-31967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-virtual-reality","8":"tag-technology","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-virtual-reality","12":"tag-vr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114362658724335351","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}