Thank you all for the memories we created in 2025! Like the new logo? This year was such a fun ride despite the bumps in the road. Let’s do a (very long) recap:
We opened the year fresh off the heels of 2024’s electric jump start with absolutely no expectations. Surely I had peaked with the Biennale and the NYE25 world poster, right?
I couldn’t have been more wrong. January saw the release of “Cozy Conference” v1.0, the first “unofficial official” world of the newly formed Luxe Nova and my first foray into the stereotypical cozy world genre. I’m still floored by the reception of that world, and I can’t thank you enough for supporting that experiment. Towards the end of the year, I upgraded it to 2.0, utilizing everything that I had learned about world creation and turning it into a more beautiful experience that’s even more optimized than before.
I later released “Distant Horizon” and “The Clearing,” even more experimental worlds for me. I never expected this world to make it out of Community Labs, but you guys showed up and helped get it out! I learned a lot from both projects, and I plan on using that knowledge for exciting new ventures.
I also landed one of my biggest collaborations ever: creating a world for VIVERSE! When I was first contacted by HTC, I was flabbergasted that they considered me of a high enough quality to create a world for their budding new platform! Nevertheless, I successfully released “Blue’s Final Battle” in March, and it very quickly received a nomination to the AWE XR Auggie Awards, something I never expected to happen.
Shortly after that, I was notified that Polyrhythm had been selected to be in July’s Bissuola Immersive Lab! The Lab was an immersive experience in Venice, Italy, showcasing the potential of mixed reality in creative settings. I can’t thank the Biennale enough for considering my work, without them I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Not too long after that, Luxe Nova was nominated for an award in Raindance Immersive 2025, and I played a key role in that success on the world development team! I created a brand new skybox shader called MoonBox and a star shader called Atmo for the team to use. These two shaders are now part of the core branding of Luxe Nova as a whole, being what powers the 3 stars in Observa and Radiance, along with the defining appearance of the planet Luxe and the Luxe Nova space station.
All of these accomplishments were finally put on display at PJKT: FEST 2025, my first ever convention. I had lots of you guys come in and cheer me on during the event, and I made lots of connections that will last a lifetime.
Luxe Nova has allowed me to be in more large-scale events this year as well: the FBHC Trevor Project Collab 2025, VoidFall 2025, the VR Charity Event 2025, and VKet 2025 Winter. I also became an official affiliate of Luxe Nova, something I never dreamed of happening. I can’t thank Luxe Nova enough for driving me to where I stand today, and for giving me opportunities to grow big and shine bright.
I also made my foray into for-sale assets this year! I released Simple D20, Photosensitive Video Player Addon, and Epilepsy Safety Blindfold, and all 3 have been massive successes! I’m especially proud of the Epilepsy Safety Blindfold, as that was a massive experiment between myself and Svitanna. I also released a few new shaders: Horizon and MoonBox. Both of these releases have proven to be popular, which I’m still forever thankful for.
For 2026, I plan on carrying this momentum forward with 3 planned world projects: Cheerleader, down, and blossom. These worlds are going to be some of my most experimental projects to date, utilizing all of my world creation knowledge and some additional secret tricks that I think will make everything pop. I’m looking forward to all of these releases this next year, and I hope you guys are as well. There may or may not be more secrets coming out next year as well, so stay tuned!
I can’t thank you guys enough for an incredible second year under SkyeSage Creations. Happy New Year!
- Skye Jude Shaw