BROADHURST
I built my own VR cinemaWhy Reel Room has no subscription and no compression.
Three million copiesInside 50 Cent: Bulletproof, from the studio that made it.
Engineering leader with 40+ years building teams and software.Gaming, VR and cloud. Most recently head of engineering at SimX.
Get in touchContents
In this issue
- 3Hello and welcomeWho writes this, and what he does.
- 4I got fed up and built my own VR cinemaThe story behind Reel Room.
- 6The games guideTwenty-three games, 1985 to 2012.
- 7AppsFlutter apps and VR training.
- 8Write inWork, questions, or just hello.
Sections, each its own page
Hello and welcome
I've spent over 40 years building software and growing teams, from Commodore 64 tapes to studios of 150 developers at THQ, and on to VR medical training at SimX.
This is where I write it all down: every game and app, the stories behind them, and what I'm building next.
Career at a glance
- SimX
- Head of engineering, team of 15
- ZOIC LABS
- Director of engineering
- THQ
- Director of development, 150+
- EA Tiburon
- Senior development director
- Genuine Games
- Co-founder and CTO, 70+
- BlackOps
- CTO, Knockout Kings series
FeatureI got fed up and built my own VR cinema
Words: David Broadhurst, August 2026
Nothing out there let me watch my own films in VR without either wrecking the quality or demanding a config file. So I stopped looking and started building.
Most of the software I've written over forty years was for somebody else. This one is different. Reel Room exists because I wanted it on a Tuesday night and nobody had made it.
Easy to set up, and no compromise on the output.
I tried the existing VR media players for months. Every time I hit one of two walls: the picture got worse on the way through, or getting it right meant config files and command line flags.
When it works, nothing happens. The film just plays, in 3D, correctly, and you don't think about it.
The games guide
Twenty-three games, from a cassette in 1985 to a 150-person studio in 2012. Every box opens its own page, with the story, screenshots and press.
Mr Frosty1985
Metranaut1986
Bubble Bobble1987
Assassin1992
Judge Dredd1995
Knockout Kings2000
50 Cent: Bulletproof2005
Darksiders 22012Apps
After the games: Flutter apps and VR training.
Write in
Work, a question about a game, or just hello.
I reply to every letter. If you're hiring for engineering leadership in games, VR or cloud, I'd like to hear about it.
Broadhurst is written, coded and designed by David Broadhurst in Orlando, Florida. Set in Anybody and Source Serif 4.