New Video Game Show to Take “Stream First” Games to a New Level

Montreal, Canada – April 6, 2016 – There are video games. There are game shows. Now there’s a Video Game Show, or VGS, and it’s coming soon to a live stream near you. Early stage game investor Execution Labs is partnering with independent game developer Robot Loves Kitty (RLK) to produce Upsilon Circuit, a game that RLK co-founders Calvin Goble and Alix Stolzer call “The Price is Right meets The Hunger Games.”

In Upsilon Circuit, eight players compete online in a dungeon to fight monsters, unlock new areas, defeat bosses, and earn points for their team. But in a VGS, the audience members–not the players themselves–are the main focus of the game. And while the game world is persistent, the focus of each of the game’s “seasons” will be on a limited number of set broadcasts. When watching the game on a streaming platform such as Twitch, audience members manipulate the game in real time. They collectively pick contestants’ skills, drop in helpful items, and generally have the ability to save or destroy the competitors. Skilled players may be able to survive for weeks or even months, but once they’re dead, they’re dead for good. Audience members will then step in to take their place.

“The Stream First approach to development is continuing to flourish with a lot of variation in design approaches for Twitch,” says Brooke Van Dusen, Twitch’s Director of Game Developer Success. “This is perfectly illustrated with Upsilon Circuit. Robot Loves Kitty and Execution Labs are creating a new genre by leveraging the power of spectators in a way that’s never been attempted.  By building the next generation of interactive entertainment with the Twitch community in mind, RLK is among the leaders of this new game design renaissance that is exciting to watch unfold.”

Says Execution Labs co-founder Keith Katz, “We view Upsilon Circuit as a natural progression in how consumers currently play and watch games. In a very short window we’ve seen massive numbers of gamers spend more and more time spectating games, and we’ve seen e-sports viewership spike. Building a cross-platform game that is not just optimized for streaming, but built around the notion that the spectators are the game, is the perfect way for a talented independent developer like RLK to cut through the noise and create something truly scalable.”

To sign up for Upsilon Circuit newsletter for the chance to participate in the game’s upcoming closed Beta, visit http://www.upsiloncircuit.com/.

About Execution Labs

Execution Labs is a hands-on early stage investor in game studios. Our focus is on independent studios developing downloadable titles for mobile, PC, and console. We invest in studios utilizing both premium and free-to-play business models, often bringing the first professional external capital to a studio or project. We deploy our in-house team of experts to make games better and unlock partnerships and additional financing. XL is based in Montreal with an office in San Francisco, and makes investments in the Americas and Europe.

About Robot Loves Kitty

Robot Loves Kitty is a husband and wife founded game studio based in New Hampshire, just a short drive away from the world’s largest arcade. Our mission for over ten years has been to make games we want to play together. Now our growing team aims to bring you games with personality, audience participation, and serious consequences at their core.