Google is doing it’s best to make up for lost time when it comes to the virtual reality space. The Silicon Valley juggernaut may not have been first to market for smartphone powered VR with its Daydream platform and View headset (that honor went to Oculus and Samusng’s Gear VR), but it has been steadily gaining ground since the device launched in November. The View is striving to achieve content parity with the other major VR headsets and today it takes one step closer in that mission.
It was announced recently that Netflix, HBO NOW, and other notable applications like Next VR are available now for the View in addition to a slew of recent game releases. Netflix VR and HBO Now, as well as the others, can be obtained in the Google Play Store. These former two in particular will be available free of charge.
These updates may seem negligible but they represent a noticeable shift in the VR power balance. Since September of 2015 the Samsung Gear VR has been the only place that users can access the Netflix VR experience. Now, Daydream has muscled its way into that same club and has even managed to move slightly past its competition in some regards.
Google Daydream View is now the world’s sole portal into HBO’s VR properties. Both HBO GO and HBO NOW can be accessed on the View via an immersive, virtual theater. In a single day the Daydream View has gone from a scrappy newcomer to one of the most comprehensive platforms for VR video on the market.
The other recent additions such as Jaunt and NextVR only make this increase in the View’s video prowess all the more noticeable. Now Google is the company with the exclusive, must-see VR video content rather than Oculus and that is a major reversal for the fledgling industry.
Google may still be lagging in terms of games right now, but if today’s news is any indication, that may be the next domino to fall.
HBO premiered a VR experience for their new