Virtual Reality has steadily started gaining momentum, but users are still to adapt to the variety of VR apps with open arms. HTC Vive is now a year old, as announced today and it has a fantastic plan to make VR technology and apps accessible to even more individuals.
The Taiwanese hardware maker is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the release of its HTV Vive VR headgear this week. Thus, it has decided to introduce a monthly subscription service for its fledgling VR application store Viveport, launched earlier last year. The company has also decided to cut the price of its HTC Vive by $100 for new customers, picking up the headgear on April 5th. The users will also the chance to gain access to Vive Studios’ new VR action game Arcade Saga for free.
Talking about the exciting offers and freebies, Daniel O’ Brien, GM US, HTC Vive said,
We’re surprised every day by what our fans and developers have brought to VIVE in its first year. We’re astounded by the impact that VR is making in the home and in the enterprise, and we want to celebrate Vive’s first birthday by giving a bit back to our fans and by introducing Vive to more people.
Talking about Viveport Subscription, HTC Vive owners would have to shell out $6.99 per month for the subscription service. This will enable them to choose five applications from the burgeoning library of content on the platform. This means you can pick up five new titles each month to try out new experiences or swap out apps you didn’t particularly enjoy with new titles — added to the Viveport app store each day.
Talking about their new subscription service, Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport at HTC Vive said,
The rapid growth of the app market is a win for VR overall yet it can present discoverability challenges that affect both customers and content creators. Introducing a subscription model to VR is a natural evolution of where this market is going, and as film, music, and TV have proven it’s becoming the preferred way customers want to explore and experience entertainment content.
HTC will officially make its VR app subscription service available to Vive users on April 5, i.e this Wednesday. Every Vive users will be receiving a month of free access to the subscription service, which is launching only with about 50 titles in tow. These include some of the most popular experiences such as TheBlu, Everest VR, Fantastic Contraption, Mars Odyssey and others. Viveport now has around 1,600 titles available across different app stores (apps also accessible via Steam VR store). This number is, however, growing at a pace of over 30 new apps each day.
While HTC is currently finding it difficult to rejuvenate growth in the smartphone market, the Taiwanese giant is looking to make its mark on the VR market. The company launched its Vive VR computer-tethered headset in competition to existing players, including Oculus Rift, Sony Playstation VR, and others. It has continuously been adding to the complete VR experience with the release of new add-on accessories for the HTC Vive — to make it wireless or for a superior audio experience.
And the company is now adding to the user experience by signing exclusive content partnerships, like the one it has recently hitched on with Warner Bros. HTC Vive has been termed as the exclusive VR partner for all content, online and offline activations for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie ‘Ready Player One’. The sci-fi thriller is scheduled to release in March 2018.
