Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Telltale vets net $5M to fuel VR development

Steel Wool Studios, a virtual reality outfit founded by former Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Telltale veterans, has raised $5 million in Series A funding from HTC. 

The cash will be used to support the development of multiple VR projects, including games, interactive simulations, and narrative-based experiences. 

The developer has linked up with HTC in the past, launching it's first VR title, Quar: Battle for Gate 18, exclusively for the HTC Vive back in April. 

"After earning our stripes with Quar, we went all-in on creating content for VR, a medium we’ve been waiting for our whole lives," said Andrew Dayton, co-founder of Steel Wool Studios. 

"HTC's investment gives us the ability to explore and push the limits of VR through the completion of projects we hope will excite everyone as much as we’ve enjoyed building them."

Steel Wool's next VR effort is Mars Odyssey, an interactive simulation that tasks players with repairing NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers.

The sim was created using NASA engineering schematics along with terrain and height map information from the red planet. It'll be hitting Steam on September 9.