What Tender Claws does

Tender Claws is a Los Angeles-based independent art and games studio founded in 2014 by Samantha Gorman and Danny Cannizzaro, operating with 1-10 employees. The studio develops narrative-driven VR games, immersive theater experiences, interactive mobile fiction, and experimental XR installations, with a portfolio spanning titles such as Pry (iOS interactive fiction, 2015), the Virtual Virtual Reality series, The Under Presents, Tempest, Stranger Things VR (2024, licensed from Netflix), Face Jumping, Tendar (AR virtual pet with computer vision), and Body Proxy (2026 SXSW installation). Its core technology combines VR and AR development, primarily on Unity-based pipelines, with proprietary interaction systems including branching narrative mechanics, live-roving theatrical performers integrated into multiplayer VR, facial expression recognition for AR pets, and perspective-shifting VR via eye-contact-based mind-swapping.

The studio monetizes through one-time license sales of VR titles on Meta Quest/Rift, PlayStation VR/PS VR2, and Steam, alongside iOS app sales for mobile titles such as Pry. Go-to-market is hybrid: direct-to-consumer via major platform storefronts and top-of-funnel awareness through a consistent festival presence at Sundance, SXSW, Cannes, Venice, and other premier events, supported by earned media and an email newsletter. Customer segments include VR gaming enthusiasts (primary), immersive theater audiences, and entertainment franchise partners such as Netflix. Strategic partnerships include a multi-year theater collaboration with Piehole for The Under Presents and an indie publishing initiative under the "Tender Claws Presents" label.

Name

Tender Claws

Legal name

Tender Claws

Website

https://tenderclaws.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tender Claws is an LA-based independent art and games studio, founded in 2014, that develops narrative-driven VR games, immersive theater, mobile interactive fiction, and experimental XR installations for consumer and entertainment franchise partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

VR Gaming & Interactive Entertainment

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Indie Game Studios (MPAFAAAC)

Keywords

• Narrative VR games
• Immersive theater experiences
• Interactive fiction apps
• Augmented reality installations
• Experimental VR storytelling

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. VR Game Sales: Direct sales of VR games through digital storefronts (Meta Quest, PlayStation VR, Steam) as one-time purchases.
2. Mobile App Sales: iOS app sales for interactive fiction titles like Pry.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Tender Claws is an award-winning independent art collective and game studio that designs and develops narrative-driven VR games, interactive fiction mobile apps, AR experiences, and experimental immersive installations. The studio blends storytelling, live theater performance, and emerging media (VR/AR) to produce critically acclaimed titles distributed through major VR and mobile platforms.

Product overview

Tender Claws is an award-winning art and games studio that creates innovative narrative VR games, immersive theater experiences, and experimental installations. Their portfolio includes the hybrid novel Pry for iOS, narrative VR games Virtual Virtual Reality and Virtual Virtual Reality 2, the licensed Stranger Things VR, mobile AR virtual pet Tendar, the sport Tumball played with tumbleweeds and leaf blowers, immersive theatrical VR adventures The Under Presents and Tempest, and experimental installations Face Jumping and Body Proxy. The studio specializes in merging storytelling with emerging media technologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pry An interactive fiction experience for iOS that tells a visceral, evocative story through a unique blend of video, audio, and text, with many hidden secrets to uncover.
• Tumball A competitive real-world sport played with tumbleweeds and leaf blowers where players score points by blowing tumballs through gates arranged in an equilateral triangle.
• George In The Tub An interactive narrative installation where the player, as George W. Bush, sits in a bathtub interacting with objects including a Blackberry phone, a painting easel, and a Scottish terrier.
• Tendar A mobile AR virtual pet (Guppy) that feeds on laughter, surprise, and tears; the pet learns and evolves based on player facial expressions and social interactions, and can recognize over 200 objects.
• Virtual Virtual Reality A VR comedy game where players work for Activitude, a virtual labor system providing artisanal human companionship to AIs. Players can escape backstage into VR headsets within VR to uncover the company's evolution.
• Virtual Virtual Reality 2 A darkly funny action-adventure VR game and sequel where players pilot a mech body through a dying metaverse, rescuing abandoned avatars as each new roommate brings unique tools to aid escape back to meatspace.
• The Under Presents An immersive multiplayer VR experience blending theater with survival narrative, set between a vaudeville stage and a harrowing story of a ship stranded in time. Featured live roving performers from 2017-2022.
• Tempest A live, interactive, intimate VR theater show inspired by Shakespeare's Tempest, where audience members are cast as Prospero's spirits in an approximately 40-minute performance.
• Stranger Things VR A licensed VR game where players become Vecna, using psychic abilities including telekinesis, mind portals, corruption vines, vine climbing, and mind travel to invade minds and enact revenge on Eleven and Hawkins.
• Face Jumping A 30-minute VR experience where participants swap perspectives by making eye contact, leaping between minds from human to animal, object to machine, exploring how seeing and being seen shapes reality and self.
• Body Proxy An experimental physical installation speculating that AI's instrumentalization of the world will necessitate human embodiment. Participants don AI glasses and enter a market where their physical agency is the asset, assessed by AIs treating the body as a peripheral device.

Quantifiable outcome

• Best Apps of 2015 - Apple App Store
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PieholecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPiehole collaborated with Tender Claws on The Under Presents, contributing foundational live performance expertise and theater production. Piehole's creative core team (Tara Ahmadinejad, Alexandra Panzer, Elliot B. Quick, Emilie Soffe, Ben Vigus, Jeff Wood) provided theatrical direction and live cast management.
• TurnFollowminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTender Claws Presents partnered with TurnFollow to support Wide Ocean, Big Jacket, an IGF finalist for Excellence in Narrative in 2020. This represents Tender Claws' initiative to support emerging indie developers in narrative-based projects.
• NetflixcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerNetflix licensed the Stranger Things IP to Tender Claws for development of Stranger Things VR, allowing players to experience the franchise from Vecna's perspective across multiple seasons of the show.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Innerspace VR: Paris-based narrative VR content creator (The Inside Experience, Vermillion). Comparable as a narrative-focused VR studio operating in the same festival and immersive-storytelling tier as Tender Claws.
• Survios: VR game studio developing narrative and action VR titles (e.g., Creed, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners). Comparable as a premium VR game developer publishing on Meta Quest, PSVR, and Steam with licensed-IP experience.
• Resolution Games: Veteran VR game studio (Demeo, Angry Birds VR) publishing multi-platform VR titles on Meta Quest, PSVR, and Steam. Comparable as a fellow multi-platform narrative/social VR publisher of similar vintage to Tender Claws.
• Atlas V: Immersive storytelling studio producing narrative VR/AR experiences and XR installations with festival-circuit distribution (Venice, Sundance, Tribeca). Highly comparable as a peer-sized, festival-pedigreed narrative XR studio.
• Baobab Studios: Independent VR animation and interactive storytelling studio behind titles like Invasion! and Asteroids!. Most directly comparable to Tender Claws as a peer-sized, founder-led narrative VR studio with festival pedigree (Emmy-winning).
• Maze Theory: VR game studio known for licensed-franchise immersive experiences (Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality, Peaky Blinders: Master Plan). Directly comparable through the licensed-IP-VR model that Tender Claws also pursues with Stranger Things VR.
• Penrose Studios: Narrative VR studio (Allumette, The Rose) founded by a former Oculus creative lead. Closely comparable as a peer-sized, founder-driven narrative VR studio with festival pedigree (Tribeca, Venice).

Broad incumbents

• Annapurna Interactive: Indie game publisher behind many critically acclaimed narrative titles. Comparable via the indie-narrative-game-publishing role that 'Tender Claws Presents' aspires to replicate, though at vastly greater scale.
• nDreams: UK-based VR game developer and publisher (Far Cry VR, Little Cities). Comparable as a multi-platform VR publisher on Meta Quest and PSVR2, though larger and with broader production capacity.
• Schell Games: Larger independent game and VR studio producing narrative and location-based VR experiences. Comparable in VR narrative work and accessibility focus, though substantially bigger and broader in scope than Tender Claws.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TenderClaws

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Tender Claws