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Love watching esports but wish the viewing experience was more immersive? Well, that’s the goal of Virtex’s latest platform, Virtex Stadium. Envisioning a virtual stadium where friends can gather to watch the latest live esports matches, Virtex Stadium is slated to arrive later this year for PC VR headsets.
Designed as a social virtual reality (VR) experience, Virtex Stadium will allow fans to watch matches in 3D at the centre of each stadium with each arena custom made for a specific videogame. Stadiums will be hosted on servers that can currently support up to 200 users, ensuring that arena atmosphere, with as many servers operating as needed.
Don’t fancy sitting in a giant stadium then why not hang out in the lobby which has a capacity of 50? Here you have free movement to wander around as you wish whilst still being able to watch a match displayed as a hologram. Or to really get in on the action there will be an option to jump into the game map.
“Having been a part of Esports live events as competitors, organisers and fans, we cherish the unique atmosphere that comes with a live show. Our team chooses the stadium over the stream every time,” said Tim Mcguinness, CEO and Founder of Virtex in a statement. “We are incredibly excited about the potential of virtual events as this new format allows us to put users so close, or sometimes literally into, the experiences, games and events they know and love. When it comes to live events we’re not limited by the real world anymore and with Virtex Stadium we want to show that”
“Creating a VR experience for Esports feels like a perfect fit, because all of our favourite games are already 3D, whether they are a PC, console or a mobile game. So far we have just been playing and viewing games through 2D screens. Imagine you could only ever watch a football match on TV and never live in front of you in a real stadium?,” said Christoph Ortlepp, COO and Co-Founder. “This is how we think about Esports games and why we believe VR is the perfect platform to view our favourite events.”
Virtex is planning to launch an open beta later this year for Virtex Stadium but it hasn’t yet divulged which videogames the platform will support, and if they’ll be standard games like CS:GO or VR specific titles. The studio has confirmed Virtex Stadium will support Oculus and SteamVR headsets.
As further updates are released for Virtex Stadium VRFocus will let you know.
Virtex Wants To Enhance The Esports Stadium Experience With VR
London-based VR developer Virtex wants to bring the excitement and atmosphere of experiencing esports at a live event to VR headsets.
The company today announced Virtex Stadium, a virtual venue intending to host big esports matches. Virtex says its stadium has a capacity of 200 people per server (running as many servers as necessary per event), allowing friends to meet up and head into a stream.
Inside the venue, matches are aiming to be shown as 3D holograms in the center of the space. Imagine watching a match of, say, Onward not just on a 2D screen but also from a kind of isometric view as if it were really happening on the stadium floor below. But Virtex hasn’t yet provided a look at this system working in real-time, nor confirmed any titles that will be compatible with the experience. All we have to go on for now is the first concept art (above) and an announcement trailer (below).
A press release also states that viewers will “jump from their seat right into the game map as the match unfolds around them.” Co-founder and COO Christoph Ortlepp also told me the team will offer different options for monetization, including selling tickets to events.
It sounds ambitious and we’re yet to see live VR events really take off at the capacity Virtex is envisioning. The company is planning to launch an open beta later this year, when it will also announce the first slate of supported titles. It’s coming to PC VR headsets first with plans for an Oculus Quest launch later down the line. You can keep up to date with the app on an official website.
Do you think Virtex Stadium could live up to its promising premise? Let us know in the comments below!
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