Studio Spotlight: nDreams HQ

nDreams has grown a lot over the last year. Our Studio Spotlight series will introduce you to our studios, our team, our culture, and our projects. Get a glimpse behind the scenes of what it means to work at the forefront of VR. We are nDreams.

nDreams HQ is based in our long-term home of Farnborough, Hampshire, in a working space that has continually grown and evolved over the years along with our team. From the moment you walk through the door of nDreams HQ and are met by our VR headset ‘museum,’ you can feel the history of virtual reality – not to mention CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh’s unquenchable enthusiasm for rescuing classic, obscure VR hardware from far and wide.

HQ ensures that all of nDreams operates like a well-oiled machine, providing all the creative and operational expertise our studios need to bring world-class VR games to the world. Having been completely renovated during the pandemic to be a truly bespoke and collaborative space, complete with state-of-the-art project breakout areas, workstations, and recreational zones, it’s an amazing space to work and create in that reflects the needs of a hybrid (and in some cases fully remote) team.

Whether we’re spending time together enjoying board game nights or being overly competitive in multiplayer gaming and table tennis tournaments, HQ is certainly equipped for play as much as work.

“nDreams HQ is the central hub within the ecosystem of studios that now exist at nDreams,” says Tamsin O'Luanaigh, Chief People Officer. “As our development studios continue to grow, the core support functions will grow alongside them to ensure continuity and excellence in everything we do.”

nDreams HQ is multifaceted, and the Shared Services Group within it is a perfect example of this. SSG contains QA, Audio, Concept Art, and Pitching teams, and will grow to encompass further functions as the studios' demand. In short, they bring all the specialisms our development teams need to support their ambitious projects, whilst getting the unique opportunity to play a pivotal role across the full breadth of our varied game line-up.

“SSG encompasses the elements of game development that are shared across our studios and teams,” adds Alison Lau, the experienced Head of nDreams’ Shared Services Group. “Over time, there will be more functions that need to be set up internally and shared, and SSG will be there to facilitate the growth in the next year and beyond.”

HQ is also home to our Publishing team, who look after our brand, communications, marketing, and sales divisions (not to mention our exciting third-party publishing ventures). “Our publishing team ensures that our games are communicated to players in the right way and showcased at their best. We work closely with the development teams of our games, both internally and externally, to ensure we’re all working towards the same goal,” says Jimmy Bowers, Community Manager.  “It’s a really collaborative and supportive environment, where even the most junior members of the team are empowered to share their thoughts and influence key decisions.”

The nDreams team has expanded rapidly in recent years, and with the VR industry on the cusp of an exciting period of growth, it really is a perfect time to join and help shape future successes.  “I started at nDreams in 2016 as part of the publishing team. Back then, we were just six people in that department,” recalls Nadine Oehmcke, Senior Sales and Analytics Manager.

 “The growth we’ve had since then has allowed us to refine our business intelligence, ensuring we are able to make more data-led decisions. We’re in the best position to leverage that knowledge and make the most out of the VR market – which is expertise we can provide to external dev teams via our publishing label.”

Also playing starring roles at nDreams HQ are our Operations team, who look after IT, Finance, and the physical office, as well as the Talent team who manage HR, Recruitment, Internal Communications, and the nDreams Academy. The Academy aims through its outreach initiatives to improve the accessibility of careers in gaming. “Since its launch last April, we’ve smashed our target for nDreams Academy hires to total 10% of our overall headcount. We’ve actually surpassed 15%.

This involves taking on apprentices, interns, and graduates, many of whom have become full-time employees, providing an accessible entry point for new talent to our amazing industry,” says Daniel Woodward, Learning and Development Manager.

It’s an exciting time to be working in the VR space, and being able to provide that springboard to the next generation of game developers, as well as participating in outreach to ensure video game careers are more accessible and transparent, is a serious responsibility we shoulder with pride. Being able to do all this from such an amazing home base is just a bonus!

At its core, beyond being an incredible communal space and a physical hub available to us all, nDreams HQ is designed to make sure that everyone at nDreams has the right tools, skills, and support to be the best they can be. As a central hub that bolsters our development studios, it’s full of teams for whom creative collaboration is everything—no matter how often they choose to work in the office.

And let’s not forget, our HQ is the home of nDreams Studio, the hybrid-working core team who are currently working on Ghostbusters VR and other exciting next-gen titles. They’re a major part of the environment and culture at nDreams HQ, and you can read more about nDreams Studio in its very own spotlight piece.

To view our latest vacancies, and get a better insight on what it is like working here, head on over to our careers page. Be sure to check out the previous Studio Spotlight which showcased the team at nDreams Studio Elevation!