Doug North Cook

Doug North Cook is the CEO and Creative Director at Creature, the studio behind Starship Home (2024 D.I.C.E. Award Winner) and the publishing label behind Maestro (Meta Quest Game of the Year 2024) and THRASHER (Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year 2024) among many others. Doug has been working with immersive technology since 2012 and has helped ship more than two dozen games. He was previously Head of VR at Robot Teddy,  the founding faculty of the  Immersive Media program at Chatham University and is co-authoring Human Spatial Computing with NYU professor Regine Gilbert, to be published by Oxford University Press in 2026.

VR is Dead (or How to Stop Worrying and Love the Wasteland)

This roundtable will open an honest conversation about the state of the VR ecosystem and the challenges facing it in 2026. With each platform's shifting priorities, the arrival of Apple and Google as new platform holders, and the return of Valve, VR has entered a period of upheaval—one that is both perilous and full of possibility. Discussion topics will include development realities, funding models, and release strategies in a changing market. Doug North Cook (Creature) will moderate the session, bringing a unique perspective as someone who actively makes, funds, and publishes games in this space.