QXR Studios

What QXR Studios does

QXR Studios is a London-headquartered, transmedia creative studio that designs and develops interactive worlds across augmented reality, virtual reality, web, and blockchain. Founded in 2020 by a team that previously built AR/VR experiences at Magic Leap, the company operates a portfolio of narrative products anchored in two original IP families — the Metropolis cyberpunk universe (including the web-based collectible card game Metropolis Origins on the WAX blockchain and the WebXR adventure Metropolis Reborn) and the Shakespeare Cinematic Universe (including Magpie Mysteries, a ten-chapter AR prequel to A Midsummer Night's Dream co-developed with the Royal Shakespeare Company). Additional projects include The Ship of the Dead (an AR audiobook with author Kate Mosse) and a narrative AR demo built within Snap's Ghost innovation program. Core technology stacks include Unreal Engine rendering streamed to mobile and browser clients via WebRTC, Google Mediapipe for body and face pose tracking, Epic's MetaHuman for virtual human rendering, and Wave Collapse Function for procedural environment generation.

The studio's technology layer is designed for cross-medium delivery: AR experiences combine live camera feeds with 3D overlays rendered remotely and stream to phones at roughly 60 fps with sub-10-millisecond latency on gigabit connections, while the Metropolis Origins card engine is a C++ engine ported to WebAssembly for cross-platform browser play. GPT-3 is used as an AI Game Master in Metropolis Origins to translate card mechanics into emergent quest narrative. Customers are primarily consumers — competitive CCG enthusiasts, AR/VR early adopters, and audiences for immersive theatrical experiences — reached through direct web distribution (metropoliscards.app) and the WAX/AtomicHub NFT marketplace; secondary revenue comes from co-development partnerships with cultural institutions and brand partners such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, Snap, and Kate Mosse. The studio is privately held, employer of 1–10 people, and has reported one disclosed $250,000 seed round in December 2022 led by Animoca Brands with Brinc participation.

The business model combines NFT-based card and pack sales on the WAX blockchain (transaction-fee revenue stream) with professional services funded by transmedia project partnerships with cultural and publishing partners. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and no enterprise or B2B sales motion has been documented; go-to-market is product-led and content-driven, anchored by a public development blog (the Dev Diary) that doubles as community engagement and organic top-of-funnel marketing.

Name

QXR Studios

Legal name

QXR Studios

Website

https://qxrstudios.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

QXR Studios is a London-based transmedia creative studio that builds AR/VR-enabled interactive worlds spanning web, mobile, and blockchain. It develops the Metropolis cyberpunk collectible card game on WAX, AR narratives with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and immersive theatrical and audiobook experiences for global entertainment audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Transmedia Game Studio / AR/VR Interactive Entertainment

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

akta.pro primary industry

VR/AR/XR Game Studios (MPAFAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Web3/Blockchain Game Studios (MPAFAAAO)

Keywords

• Transmedia game studio
• AR/VR development
• Blockchain card game
• Immersive storytelling
• WebXR experiences

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. NFT Collectible Card Sales: Metropolis Origins generates revenue through sale of NFT card decks and packs on the WAX blockchain. Players purchase decks (NFTs) containing 50 cards and can buy additional packs (also NFTs). The game has property cards and character cards with varying rarities.
2. Transmedia Project Development: Development of AR-enhanced theatrical experiences and narrative-based projects for partners like Royal Shakespeare Company, funded through project partnerships

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

QXR Studios is a transmedia creative studio that designs and develops AR/VR/XR-enabled interactive narrative experiences and games across web, mobile, headset, and location-based entertainment. Its commercial product is Metropolis Origins, a web-based cyberpunk collectible card game with NFT-based digital ownership on the WAX blockchain, alongside transmedia narrative projects such as Magpie Mysteries (with the Royal Shakespeare Company), The Ship of the Dead (with author Kate Mosse), and Metropolis Reborn (a WebXR adventure).

Product overview

QXR Studios is a transmedia creative studio building rich interactive worlds using emerging technologies. The company operates across multiple products and platforms within its broader narrative IP ecosystem. Its primary offerings include Metropolis Origins, a web-based collectible card game with NFT integration on the WAX blockchain, and Magpie Mysteries, an AR mobile narrative developed with the Royal Shakespeare Company — both forming part of transmedia storyworlds. Supporting products include The Ship of the Dead (an AR audiobook with Kate Mosse), Metropolis Reborn (a WebXR PC adventure), and an AR demo for Snap's Ghost innovation program. Key enabling technologies include real-time WebRTC video streaming from Unreal Engine, body/face tracking via Google Mediapipe, GPT-3-driven quest generation, and procedural world generation via Wave Collapse Function. The company was formed in 2020 by veterans from Magic Leap and draws on experience across games, theater, film, and interactive storytelling.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Metropolis Origins: A collectible card game set in the Metropolis cyberpunk IP. Build your deck, choosing from Government, Corporate or Underground factions, and play against an AI or other players from around the world.
• Metropolis Reborn
• Magpie Mysteries
• Ship of the Dead
• Metropolis for Augmented Reality

Products and services

• Metropolis Origins A cyberpunk-themed collectible card game playable via web (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari on macOS Monterey) with mobile phone integration. Players purchase 50-card NFT decks on the WAX blockchain in factions (Government, Corporate, Underground) and additional packs as NFTs. Gameplay includes competitive matches against AI or other global players and a GPT-3-driven quest narration system that acts as a Game Master, advancing narrative based on cards played.
• Magpie Mysteries A transmedia AR narrative project developed in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company, comprising ten chapters of a prequel/backstory to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Designed as an AR mobile narrative leading into a location-based AR-enhanced theatrical experience, and intended as part of a longer-term Shakespeare Cinematic Universe spanning Mobile AR, Headset, PC, LBE, TV, and Film.
• The Ship of the Dead An augmented reality audiobook experience created in partnership with international best-selling author Kate Mosse. The prototype consists of three AR scenes (a hut, a shoreline, and a cliff path), fusing immersive visual and sound design with narration by the author; the full experience recreates the story environment across multiple global locations as the narrative of the Ankou unfolds.
• Metropolis Reborn A WebXR-based PC adventure game with mobile phone integration, set in 2287, years after Metropolis Origins. On a ravaged Earth post-ecological destruction, AI robots outnumber humans and most humans left in 'The Big Lift' to a distant star. Players investigate whether The Big Lift was a lie. Features merged-stream rendering architecture where communal scenes are rendered once and shared across players with per-player overlays rendered individually.
• Metropolis (AR Demo) A narrative-based AR demo built in partnership with Snap's Ghost innovation program, enabling users to navigate a 3D character around their physical room and interact with furniture and environment. Part of QXR's creative R&D in augmented reality storytelling.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and historical.

• Royal Shakespeare CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQXR Studios partnered with the Royal Shakespeare Company to create Magpie Mysteries, a 10-chapter prequel/backstory to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, designed as an AR mobile narrative leading into a location-based AR-enhanced theatrical experience. The long-term goal is to develop a Shakespeare Cinematic Universe across multiple media.
• Snap Ghost Innovation ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQXR Studios partnered with Snap's Ghost innovation program for the Metropolis AR project, developing a narrative-based AR demo that allows users to navigate 3D characters around their physical room and interact with furniture and environment.
• Kate MossecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Ship of the Dead is an augmented reality audiobook experience created in partnership with international best-selling author Kate Mosse. QXR brought one of her beloved ghost stories to life on phones, fusing immersive visual and sound design with narration by the author.
• Snap Inc.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSnap Inc. is shown as a partner logo on the QXR Studios website, indicating partnership for AR content distribution or technology integration.
• Magic LeaphistoricalStrategic or Co-development PartnerWhile not a current partner, the QXR Studios team collaborated at Magic Leap between 2014-2020 on projects with Royal Shakespeare Company and United Nations Development Program, pushing boundaries of experience design in AR/VR.
• United Nations Development ProgramhistoricalStrategic or Co-development PartnerQXR team members worked with UNDP during their time at Magic Leap on sustainability, urban planning, economics, and climate change projects using AR/VR.
• World BankhistoricalStrategic or Co-development PartnerQXR team members worked with World Bank during their time at Magic Leap on city-scaled use cases in sustainability and urban planning using AR/VR.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Niantic: Niantic is the leading AR gaming company (Pokémon GO, Ingress) building location-based and mobile AR experiences at consumer scale. QXR shares the same AR-game-studio category and similar use of real-time rendering, world mapping, and mobile AR distribution.
• Gods Unchained: Gods Unchained is a Web3/Blockchain collectible card game (similar to Hearthstone) where players own cards as NFTs. It is the closest direct competitor to Metropolis Origins in the blockchain CCG space, sharing monetization, mechanics, and target audience.

Emerging players

• Sky Mavis: Sky Mavis is the developer of Axie Infinity, one of the largest Web3/blockchain games. It is a comparable peer in the blockchain gaming infrastructure and player-owned digital asset space that QXR's Metropolis Origins targets.
• Mythical Games: Mythical Games builds AAA blockchain games with player-owned economies (Blankos, NFL Rivals). It is a peer in the Web3 gaming category with a comparable focus on true digital asset ownership and high-production-value game experiences.
• Sorare: Sorare is a blockchain-based fantasy sports collectible card game. It is a relevant peer in the NFT-collectible gaming category with a proven model for combining CCG mechanics, digital ownership, and mainstream sports IP partnerships.
• Meow Wolf: Meow Wolf creates immersive, narrative-driven location-based experiences that blend physical installation with digital interactivity. It is a transmedia and immersive storytelling peer, comparable to QXR's Magpie Mysteries and LBE AR theatrical vision.
• Hadean: Hadean provides cloud-scale infrastructure for metaverse and large-scale spatial computing experiences. It is a peer in the underlying tech-stack layer for cloud-rendered multiplayer immersive experiences, adjacent to QXR's WebRTC and merged-stream work.

Broad incumbents

• Improbable: Improbable provides metaverse infrastructure and tooling (MSquared platform) for building large-scale virtual worlds. It is a broad incumbent in the same immersive/AR-VR enablement space where QXR's merged-stream and WebRTC infrastructure could eventually compete or partner.
• Rec Room: Rec Room is a user-generated VR/AR social gaming platform with cross-platform support including mobile. It is a broad incumbent in the cross-medium immersive gaming space QXR targets, though QXR focuses on narrative IP rather than UGC.

Others

• Animoca Brands: Animoca Brands is both an investor in QXR and the parent/operator of a large portfolio of Web3 games (Sandbox, REVV Motorsport, etc.). It is an ecosystem participant that provides both capital and distribution adjacency for blockchain gaming studios like QXR.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/qxrstudios

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about QXR Studios