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StatusPRO will do “an immersive 3D first-person experience”.
The NFL is preparing a VR game. But rather than build on its longstanding partnership with EA to extend Madden to virtual headsets, the National Football League has partnered with SatusPRO to create a first-person American football simulator for Meta Quest and PlayStation VR.
You’ve probably never heard of StatusPRO, and that’s because he’s never done a game before. However, StatusPRO has plenty of football experience, with founder Andrew Hawkins having played seven seasons in the NFL and two seasons in the Canadian Football League where he even won back-to-back Gray Cups for the Montreal Alouettes (that’s like the Canadian version of the Super Bowl but without the crazy halftime shows or billion dollar ad slots).
Hawkins retired from football in 2017, then teamed up with Troy Jones to found StatusPRO, a technology company that leverages things like augmented and virtual reality to help professional gamers become better at the game. Their first product, Pre Game Prep, is an augmented reality headset that simulates real football training. This allows a real player to play against simulated opponents on a real football pitch, reducing the risk of injury and dramatically speeding up the time needed to perform drills.
Andrew Hawkins and Troy Jones, Founders of StatusPRO
Pre Game Prep is already used by several NFL teams and is halfway to creating a virtual reality game. This is probably why the NFL felt comfortable using StatusPRO for its first VR video game.
“We are grateful to the NFL and our community of investors and stakeholders who share our vision to create an entirely new standard in sports and games,” said Hawkins. “We put the athlete first in everything we do, and as former football players that means even more being able to recreate what it really feels like on the pitch. Thanks to our proprietary technology at StatusPRO, we can deliver an immersive experience that helps transform NFL fans into professional athletes.”
The NFL did not provide any further information on the VR football game, but promised more details would come later.
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