At the beginning of the week, just prior to CES 2018, HTC Vive made some big announcements. The most attention grabbing was HTC Vive Pro, updating the original with integrated headphones and improved resolution. There was also the Vive Wireless Adaptor for users keen to free themselves from cables. Both of these are still to come, so for HTC Vive users keen on trying something new today they can now try the early access release of Viveport VR.
As reported at the time, Viveport VR is a new way for Viveport users to find and consume virtual reality (VR) content through HTC Vive’s store. So not only are there new menus and layouts to improve the VR store experience the entire environment has been completely reworked.
The main addition of Viveport VR is the VR Preview this allows users to sample content prior to purchase very mush in a similar vein to traditional demos. Developers can choose what content they show, from just an environment to actual playable content so users know what the gameplay is like.
Today, HTC Vive has made another announcement. The Viveport Subscription which launched last year offering one month’s free trial will now be reduced. From the 16th January Viveport will only offer a 14-day trial period to new users, meaning that anyone not yet signed up has five days to make use of the one month period, allowing them to experience up to five VR titles from a selection of over 300.
Apart from the monthly subscription Viveport also offers several plans each covering a certain amount of months, saving customers money they longer they subscribe. So there’s a three-month plan for £19.99, a six-month plan for £39.99 or a 12-month plan for £79.99. Each works exactly the same as before offering five titles per month that are then swappable. So if you paid the standard monthly cost of £6.99 over 12 months you’d spend £83.88.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of HTC Vive and Viveport, reporting back with the latest announcements.