From A to Z and back to A.

This is our company story.

In 2007, we formed a company to make computer games. This seemed like a good idea at the time, because everyone wanted to play computer games, so why not join in with a commercial winner? We started somewhere near the bottom, offering game hosting services on a small scale.

Although successful, it quickly became apparent that in Australia it was nearly impossible to expand into a mid-sized enterprise. Because our IT providers could not give a reliable upload capacity, any expansion had to be through an off site data centre. These required a minimum of a 12 month contract and a significant financial commitment, which was more than our small establishment deemed wise to make at that stage. To the disappointment of our small but enthusiastic client base, we discontinued our game hosting service.

Back to the drawing board, we started developing concepts for a game for Personal Computers. Most people were playing games on consoles at that time. We considered educational products based on mathematics and problem solving games, but kept coming back to the first idea: trains. Driving trains, shunting trains, loading trains; basically playing trains in a safe, virtual world.

The next step involved acquiring the technical capacity to build the game, and the expertise to do it. The technology kept changing at an increasing rate, which was both helpful and challenging. How to build a product for the future and prevent our efforts from becoming obsolete before completion? However, new products for artistic applications have been released onto the market, making certain aspects of creativity more efficient.

Part of the creative process in game development is gathering visual references. This led to photography becoming a major focus of the business for a considerable time, including on a commercial basis. At every step along the journey, new expertise has been added to our company.

Film production is where virtual reality meets the real world. VFX (visual effects) are now an integral part of movie making. We have adopted a new direction, using many of the skills and attributes developed through game development.

Company Details

ABN: 11123481890
ACN: 123481890
Softshadow Studios is a trading name of Softshadow Technologies Pty. Ltd.