"Pay attention to the small stuff" survival pro Les Stroud talks Survivorman VR, game development, tips for survival and more (Exclusive)

Les Stroud, survival expert extraordinaire, recently released a virtual reality game alongside Cream Productions called Survivorman VR: The Descent. Around the time of the game’s launch, Sportskeeda had a chance to chat with the pro himself about what it means to create a video game, advice for gamers taking part in it, and much more. While I have a hard time experiencing VR games, I can see this game, which is a first of its kind, being a successful, interesting title for fans of both wilderness survival and virtual reality gaming.

Genuinely, this was a pleasure. I was never a big outdoors kid, but I’ve watched a great deal of Les Stroud’s televised content over the years. I think it’s a fascinating thing to watch, and it takes an intense amount of knowledge of the world around us. And who better to help create Survivorman VR than the man himself? Here’s what he had to say about his newly-released virtual reality experience.

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Les Stroud discusses Survivorman VR, making a video game, outdoor survival, and more

Q. First, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Would you please introduce yourself to those who aren't familiar?

Les Stroud: My name is Les Stroud, and I’m best known as the producer, creator, and host of the hit TV series Survivorman, which ran for 17 years in over 100 countries around the world and spawned an entirely new TV genre: survival TV.

I’m also a multi-award-winning documentary filmmaker, author and musician. Recently, I’ve entered into the world of game development, working with Cream Productions to develop my first VR survival simulation: Survivorman VR: The Descent.

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Q. You're working together with Cream Productions to produce a truly fascinating VR game. Survivorman VR: The Descent. What's it like taking your own personal experiences and turning them into a video game?

Les Stroud: It vacillates between surreal and simply pragmatic. Pragmatism always tends to win out since the goal of the project is real-world applicable education, as most of my projects are. The surrealism comes in when you see yourself as an avatar.

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Q. On that topic, are all the challenges in the game something you've done yourself?

Les Stroud: Not all of them specifically, but close enough in most cases and spot on in some others. For example, I certainly have done my share of trapping for rabbits as well as building survival gear such as snowshoes out of scraps, and each of the fire-starting methods are techniques I have had to employ while on actual survival expeditions.

Even the combination of kayaking and canoeing is a past expertise of mine, as I was a white water instructor for many years. Crossing the ice safely and dealing with wind and snow are all activities I’ve had to deal with while surviving. So, come to think of it, yes, I have done most, if not all, of the challenges in the title.

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Q. Your show, Survivorman, ran for 14 years and saw quite a bit of success as a survival television show. Your game is also an authentic survival simulator that teaches people how to survive in an Arctic setting. Is that something that interests you, on a personal level, showing people how to overcome the most dangerous elements?

Les Stroud: It does, yes, although I would have to say that my initial and main interest – and at times obsession – wasn’t so much with showing people how to overcome dangerous elements. It is my own fascination with mastering the skills themselves. It just happens to be a set of skills that lend themselves very well to sharing and teaching and, to be honest – in some situations, to help with the greater good, hence the teaching aspect.

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Q. Were there any challenges that had to be overcome when creating this game? Was it difficult to explain your experiences to the developers, or did you have to take them out into the wild yourself?

Les Stroud: The main challenge for me was simply the technical aspects. There is a part of me that wants perfection now, and since the technology is still growing and advancing, the in-world avatar is not perfect just yet. So, I’ve had to be patient. Maybe my nose or eyes aren’t perfect to my actual self, but it’s still me, and it’s still my voice and my scripting from my own reality, and so in that sense, it still feels very authentic……authentically me.

The developers were fantastic to work with in that they simply acquiesced to my every whim, complaint, and instruction when it came to the survival skills, techniques, and even the storyline. I held their feet to the fire, and they knew that I was never going to cave on a matter simply because it may have been easier or seemed more fun for the game or whatever.

They had their own experiences, but none as extreme as mine, and they knew that. This title was based on extremes, and that was my world.

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Q. This game is a first of its kind in the world of VR - or perhaps in gaming at large. How did this project come to life in the first place?

Les Stroud: I have been an on-again, off-again partner with David Brady, the executive producer at Cream Productions, for 20 years, and we are always looking for ways to work together. After I initially launched Survivorman as a pilot and then secured the series with a Canadian network, David and I joined forces for a season or two to work out the kinks of the show. I always enjoyed working with him, and when he came to me and simply said, “Hey, Survivorman VR, what do you think?”

I was all in, and it took off from there. He put a great team together with Irene Vandertop and Andrew MacDonald in the lead producer roles, and we were off to the races. Cream VR is absolutely committed to leading-edge work, and I love that.

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7. While challenging and fun, do you think budding survivalists would learn from this game and come out with the knowledge that would benefit them in the real world?

Les Stroud: Nothing will ever substitute for the real thing. However, I liken this simulation to what helicopter pilots have been doing for years. A safe, comfortable simulation is a great way to whet your appetite before getting out there for real and subsequently getting wet, cold, and hungry while actually surviving. It’s one step closer to Jumanji.

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Q. If you could bring some other survivalist gameplay to the Virtual World, what other biomes or climates do you think you'd tackle next?

Les Stroud: Oh, I would love to tackle many: jungles, mountains, tropical, deserts, rough weather, natural disasters, societal breakdown, etc… There are so many places we can go and so many ecosystems to explore. I’m very excited about the possibilities and, of course, am working on the next version right now.

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Q. Do you have any advice for players diving into the game for the first time? Is there anything that perhaps the game doesn't teach you that you feel they ought to know?

Les Stroud: Funnily enough, I think if they actually took a real weekend survival course somewhere, it would be amazing how that would help them in their Survivorman VR experience. The real world definitely does bleed into and blend with the VR world when it comes to this title.

But in terms of the title itself, I would say that paying attention to how your body and vitals are doing is paramount to surviving, just as it is in the real world. They can’t ignore that aspect of the simulation and get caught up in the fun of the survival activities.

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Q. One of the great things about game development is that you can learn as much as the developers do. Is there anything you learned from the developers as you worked together on this project?

Les Stroud: Paying attention to the small stuff was, and is, vital to a simulation like this. And I do love to call it a simulation instead of a game. Andrew knew instinctively that all the small details were going to be the key to the “reality” of this survival simulation and how it played out.

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Les Stroud’s Survivorman VR: The Descent is available now on the Quest 2 and Quest 3, with a PlayStation VR2/PCVR launch coming in early 2024.