Skip to main content

Oberhasli is an evolving virtual world built for Deadmau5 fans

In some of the most left-field news to come out of this year’s Gamescom, electronic musician Deadmau5 is creating his own video game called Oberhasli. More accurately, Oberhasli is a “virtual world and music experience” where fans of Deadmau5 and his music can interact with content curated by the man (and mouse) himself.

The project is launching on Core, a free game-creation platform that was funded by Fortnite developer Epic Games in 2020. Epic’s involvement in the platform, which is available through the Epic Games Store, is fitting considering that Oberhasli looks like a more in-depth version of Fortnite’s live music experiments. It’s not going to be a one-and-done concert, but an evolving digital space where fans can get an inside look at the DJ’s brain.

I spoke with Joel Zimmerman, aka Deadmau5, about Oberhasli and his interest in creating digital worlds. Zimmerman makes it clear that he’s not out to make a flash-in-the-pan PR spectacle; Oberhasli is a long-term vision that could give artists a forward-thinking way to connect with their fans.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

Let’s get digital

When you hear the name Deadmau5, video games probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. The producer and DJ is a Grammy-nominated electronic artist who’s recognizable thanks to his now-iconic mouse helmet. Skeptical players might assume his connection to the project is in name only, with a development team doing the heavy lifting.

That’s not exactly the case. Zimmerman is an avid gamer and a self-taught developer. Our conversation included a flurry of high-level tech jargon, as Zimmerman nerded out over DLSS and path tracing. He finds himself trying to figure out how something is done in a game the same way he’d ask what synth a musician is using on a track.

A purple-lit area featuring deadmau5's mouse mask in Oberhalsi.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Things I like to do myself, I tend to deep dive,” Zimmerman tells Digital Trends. “Everyone can appreciate a game, and there’s plenty of people who don’t care to know how that game works. I love cars, but I don’t necessarily know a lot about it. If it’s on a computer, I’m happy to do that, but if it’s a tangible good, I could give a shit less.”

Music and gaming ended up intersecting in a surprising way, as Zimmerman almost accidentally stumbled into creating a game. While he wasn’t sure he’d be able to commit to a full-scale, AAA-sized title, Core’s world-building interface allowed him to spin his dream project up much quicker.

“It came out of the necessity of needing to make a show previz out of a real-time game engine versus setting up a studio,” says Zimmerman. “My previz, thanks to the advent of Unreal Engine, started to look like a AAA game, and I was like, ‘Well, can we make this a video game then?’ And they were like ‘yes … and no.’ Making games is a solid commitment, with a lot of money and man hours. It only made more sense to walk into a preexisting world builder to use that as the framework for the world of Deadmau5.”

Party all the time

Oberhalsi is an ambitious project. It’s not like a Fortnite concert experience where players will log in for 20 minutes, interact with a preset show, and leave. Zimmerman feels that experiences like Fortnite’s live shows tend to make headlines, but ultimately fizzle out. Instead, his aim is to create a modular world that’s persistent and ever-evolving — one that allows him to actually interact with his fans and vice versa.

“The long-term goal is that players are going to be able to squad up or come in solo and be in instances of a performance where I’m actually there performing live,” says Zimmerman. “It’s just kind of a sandbox hangout where I can do some web streams and interact with people who don’t have Core, but can watch me interact with people in real time. It’s been cool to have this platform where I can develop and world build and change things weekly, daily, whenever I want, and have that become a community activity.”

A digital world inside of Oberhalsi.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The digital space will host events and feature prebuilt minigames that players can goof around in. It sounds a bit like Second Life, if it was set in “Deadmau5 world” instead of reality. Core co-founder Jordan Maynard calls it a “window into Joel’s mind.” One week, he might drop a song sketch in the game. Another, he may program some guns in and turn it all into a battle royale game. It’s a genre-less experience that’s more about giving fans access to his fluid creative process.

Oberhasli extends that same idea to its players. Zimmerman describes it as a “sandbox game for developers and artists,” noting that anyone will be able to alter the world if they know how to use Core’s world-builder tool. Any player could program in some cars and create Super Deadmau5 Kart if they felt like it. The hope is that fan engagement will keep the world active even when Zimmerman himself isn’t logged in.

“I was like, how am I going to give this thing a shelf life when I’m sleeping?” Zimmerman says. “One of the challenges is to gamify and create social activity for everyone on the same tier that they’d get if I was there, too. You can go to circus, but if all the performers are taking a break one day, who wants to go to the fucking circus?”

A massive structure inside of Oberhalsi's digital world.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Naturally, the whole project evokes the elusive “metaverse” concept that tech companies like Epic and Facebook are chasing right now. Oberhasli will certainly get labeled as another building block in the mounting vision of a digital-only world, but that’s not how Zimmerman necessarily views the project. For him, it’s just about finding a way to connect with his fans in a more meaningful way. The metaverse is a sprawling concept that could let us live entire digital lives; this is a more personal experience that breaks down the barriers between artist and fans.

Zimmerman is refreshingly blunt when the topic of the metaverse is raised: “I don’t even know what it is and neither does anyone else. So I’ll be the first to admit that I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about when you say metaverse.”

Editors' Recommendations

Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
Move over Zelda: Tchia is officially my most anticipated game of 2023
Tchia glides through the air.

There are many big-budget games to look forward to in 2023, like Starfield, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. But after going hands-on with a much smaller indie title, I have a new most anticipated title of 2023. The game in question is Tchia, a vibrant, cheerful, and free-flowing open-world game about a girl exploring a tropical archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.
Tchia - Commented Gameplay Walkthrough
Tchia first caught my attention in a hands-off preview of Kepler Interactive's Gamescom lineup last year, but it took me going hands-on to really understand the magic of Tchia. A freeing open-world game in the same vein as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring, or Sable, Tchia lets players loose on beautiful islands in the Pacific and gives them tools to explore by climbing, gliding, possessing animals and objects, and sailing wherever they want. Its deep understanding and respect for the culture it represents enhance the experience too. If you're wondering what indie darling will wind up becoming this year's critically acclaimed game of the year dark horse, you'll want to keep an eye on Tchia.
What is Tchia? 
Tchia is an open-world game following a little girl (named Tchia) trying to find her missing father on an archipelago inspired by New Caledonia, a tropical archipelago in the Pacific Ocean where some of the game's developers are from. While players have the stamina to climb up buildings and trees, swing from them, and even swim, dive, and sail around these islands, they can also soul-jump into lots of different animals and objects. These each add even more gameplay gimmicks that enhance exploration and help Tchia solve puzzles.

I had the chance to play some main story missions during my preview where Tchia befriends a young girl and explores one of the game's biggest islands, completing various objectives and even hunting for treasure. The story was fairly light in what I played, but the gameplay really shined. Although I had some objectives, it was just as fun to climb up the trees near the starting town and fling Tchia into a glide to travel a longer distance.
I could then let go of that glide to do tricks in the air or soul-jump into an animal, allowing me to explore the world in a new way. Tchia makes exploration feel fantastic, as you'll immediately feel like you have all the tools to make this world your oyster.
Oh, and did I mention you can play the ukulele? Because Tchia features a fully playable ukulele.
At a couple of narrative beats during my preview, I encountered rhythm-game-like segments as Tchia performed specific songs, but I could also play the ukulele at any time while I was exploring if I wanted to. While you can play whatever you want, specific melodies have additional effects, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time style. The results of these tunes range from simply changing the time of day to giving Tchia a buff that allows her to breathe underwater infinitely.

Read more
UFC 5: release date speculation, trailers, gameplay, and more
UFC 4 Mixed Martial Arts

As a newer sport, the UFC game series has only been around since 2014. Despite that short history, the games have become a very popular brand for fans of MMA. These titles play much differently than other fighters, like the more combo-focused Street Fighter games or hyper-flashy, anime-style games from developers like ArcSystemworks. We've only had three sequels so far, but a fifth entry in the series, UFC 5, is expected to be coming out at any time.

With MMA more popular than ever, more people are wondering not only when they can expect to play UFC 5, but what new changes will be coming. There still isn't a lot of official information available, but that hasn't stopped us from sizing up the competition and pulling together some stats. For everything you need to know about when you can step into the octagon with UFC 5, we've got you covered.

Read more
The best PS5 exclusives of 2022: standouts from the console’s strong second year
Aloy stands in front of text that says The Best 2022 PS5 Exclusives of 2022.

The PlayStation 5 got off to a strong start with games like Demon's Souls in 2020, and kept that momentum going throughout 2021 with titles such as Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. It showed no signs of slowing down in 2022. Many great exclusives dropped this year, many of which we've known about since before the system even launched. The lineup is full of high-quality titles, many of which emphasize their gorgeous visuals and compelling narratives. From sequels to critically acclaimed titles to ambitious new franchises, these seven games stand as the best PS5 (and PS4) console exclusive games of 2022.
God of War Ragnarok

Not much needs to be said about God of War Ragnarok. It's a massive follow-up to the series' critically acclaimed 2018 soft reboot, and it goes bigger in almost every way. There are more gods to fight, realms to be explored, and weapons to take on hordes of foes with. God of War Ragnarok is a satisfying action game that tells a large-scale story, but it still takes time to focus on its characters and the journey of Kratos and Atreus as they learn to communicate better. Anyone who owns a PS5 or PS4 owes it to themselves to pick up God of War Ragnarok.
Gran Turismo 7

Read more