19Dec/16Off
Number of China VR Arcades Explodes
In a move to sidestep the individual commercial usage agreement with individual software providers, (and building on their previously announced VIVELAND development which we reported on previously) HTC has announced, during the Alibaba development conference in China, the 'Viveport Arcade' - presented as a one-stop shop to monetize, distribute and allow operators to legally use consumer VR content in the exploding VR arcade scene in China (with aspirations to become a global standard for all HTC Vive Business Edition usage). HTC's Chairman revealed in October, in a surprise disclosure, that they had sold some 140,000 Vive HMDs since the launch of the system in May.
HTC's launch of 'Viveport Arcade' to Chinese operators and developers of VR experience centers (VR arcades and parks) reveals an explosion in this sector. The HTC executive announced the initiative sees hundreds of locations using their (HTC Vive BE) VR system in certain Chinese prefectures (with Guangzhou seeing 80 new VR venues open in two short months). This new portal allows HTC, in conjunction with Alibaba, to support the need for a constant supply of content (the Chinese e-commerce sales operation is a company that is selling many the latest VR arcade platforms).
The HTC platform proposes to offer marketing and distributing of consumer VR game content into the commercial (VR Arcade) sector in exchange for a proposed 50-50 split of generated revenue taken from the per-minute take from the operator in a special agreement to use 'Viveport Arcade'. Some 100 developers in China and the US have signed up already for the initiative (no names revealed yet). This the clearest example towards the explosion in interest in the commercial application of VR entertainment - watch this space for more information.
At the time of this news breaking, it was also revealed that the publishing and development partner with HTC, Valve Corporation, were also looking to create their own content licensing scheme for the use of games from their service in commercial entertainment applications. More details are expected on the pricing and limitations of this approach, but it illustrates the sudden change in thinking from consumer VR publishers, who have taken to consider commercial utilization of their content in the DOE sector. With a speculated 150,000 HTC Vive VR headsets in circulation since their launch in June, the companies are now keen to grow momentum and interest in their offering via all routes possible.
From 1/19/16 Stinger Report
Filed under: Non-3D stories
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