Google Accidentally CC’d The Entire Daydream Platform Developer List And What Happened Next Was Awesome.
The contents of the email were cool enough:
Potential Daydream Access Program Partners,
Good news. We have opened up the DAP to allow all developers to go through the process of self publishing their own apps/games on to the Daydream platform via Play. We posted publicly available materials on the Google VR Developers website that include instructions on how to ensure your app is approved and listed on to the store. In addition to the technical checklist of requirements — apps will need to:
- Maintain high performance to provide a comfortable experience, and
- Use the Daydream controller for user interaction
We are very excited about opening the ecosystem up to allow for all sorts of differentiated and amazing content.
Regards, The Daydream Team
It was curious, however, because there were +490 people on the email, and all email addresses were visible in the CC field. I resisted firing off a “WTF?” email for the blunder — but I’m glad I didn’t — because what happened next was pretty amazing, and it’s a reason why I love this industry so much.
Recipients kind of just shrugged, and then continued Replying All, turning the gigantic email into a discussion forum with only the slightest bit of irony.
Here’s what I learned in the first few minutes:
- Life of Lon is a VR game for Vive/Rift and is looking for two-controller support from Daydream. Check it out.
- Merge VR reminded us they already have a controller.
- Someone has created “the first VR/AR portal.”
- There’s a diagnostic tool for people with dementia in the works.
- There are tons of indie game studios working on games.
- Daydream devs have a great sense of humor.
There are active Daydream devs all over the world (In voice of “Hello from…!” or “Checking in from…!): San Francisco, New York, Manchester, Tel Aviv, Bristol, Argentina, Australia, New Delhi… and on and on.
It only took less than 5 minutes for a Slack channel to be rolled up so we could all continue the conversation elsewhere.
So despite the privacy error, it’s amazing to see such enthusiasm and creativity already brewing for what could turn out to be Daydream’s game-changing hardware in terms of mobile VR.
As one recipient put it:
“ This may turn out to be the best cc flub ever.”
