Category: Viveport

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HTC is Giving Devs a Big Revenue Share Boost on Its VR Platform

HTC is sweetening the pot for VR developers selling content on its VIVEPORT VR storefront, on both PC VR and its standalone Vive XR Elite headset.

HTC announced today that it will be increasing the revenue share of sales made on its Viveport VR platform to 90%. That means the developer keeps 90% of the revenue from apps bought on the platform while the platform keeps only 10%.

Other major XR app stores—like Meta’s Quest store and Valve’s Steam store—generally give developers a 70% revenue share, while keeping 30% for the platform.

HTC says the new revenue split will apply starting on April 1st to new apps sold on both the PC VR and Vive XR Elite versions of Viveport . Existing apps already on those stores will get the improved share for sales going back to March 1st. The company hasn’t announced how long it will honor the new share. We’ve reached out for more info.

HTC says it’s making the change for the benefit of developers and the critical role they play in the XR industry.

“Developers are the heartbeat of the XR ecosystem—when they thrive, the whole industry thrives,” said Joseph Lin, General Manager of Viveport. “That’s why we’re introducing a generous 90% revenue share on purchases of apps and games on the Viveport store for developers to accelerate their growth. By putting more resources directly into the hands of the creators, we’re ensuring Viveport is at the forefront of driving growth for the XR community.”

This isn’t the first time HTC has sweetened the deal for developers using Viveport. The company has temporarily boosted developer revenue at several points over the years, including giving developers 100% of revenue at the tail-end of 2020.

While Meta’s Quest app store takes a fairly common 30% share of revenue for app sales, the company has been criticized for taking the same amount from apps sold on its App Lab store, which hosts ‘unlisted’ apps which can’t be found by browsing the main Quest store. The company has similarly been criticized for the revenue share structure of its Horizon Worlds social VR app, which keeps nearly 50% of digital goods revenue sold through the app.

The post HTC is Giving Devs a Big Revenue Share Boost on Its VR Platform appeared first on Road to VR.

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Viveport Anniversary Deal Includes Free Copies of ‘Until You Fall’, ‘Fracked’ and ‘Primal Hunt’

Viveport Infinity, HTC’s Netflix-style game membership, used to be pretty groan-worthy, offering up only a few really great titles and filling out the rest with a shovel-full of either mediocre or downright bad games. A lot has changed in the past few years though, and to celebrate Viveport’s 7th anniversary HTC is sweetening the pot with three games that are worth playing (and keeping).

For annual subscribers, the deal includes keepable copies of Primal Hunt, Until You Fall, and Fracked—available to both new members joining Viveport Infinity or existing members looking to extend their subscription.

The three-game giveaway deal is only available for annual subscribers; monthly subscribers re-upping or joining for the first time only get Fracked for free. Both offers are available from today until October 8th.

Here’s a look at all three games:

Until You Fall

Released by Schell Games in 2020, this stylish roguelite features a refreshingly unique approach to VR sword fighting, combining the satisfaction of a hack-and-slash game with the depth of RPG combat, all wrapped up in a VR-native design. We liked it so much, we gave Until You Fall an [8/10] in our review and also honored it with our Design Award for Excellence in User Interface in 2019, back when it was still just in Early Access on Steam.

Fracked

nDreams released Fracked initially as a PSVR exclusive in 2021, but brought the andrenaline-soaked shooter to PC VR headset a year later. The game’s undeniable good looks, unique cover system and satisfyingly tactile combat all are highlights to the underlying adventure that tasks you with blasting your way out of danger, and also a handful of side activities too, such as skiing, climbing, and light puzzling.

Primal Hunt

Hunt the most dangerous creatures ever to walk the earth – DINOSAURS! Created by Phaser Lock Interactive, this Turok-inspired VR Dinosaur Hunting Game lets you face Raptors, Triceratops, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, all of which get deadlier with cyber enhancements and weapons. Originally released on Quest and Pico earlier this year, the game has since been ported to PC VR headsets. It’s still a bit on the ‘mobile’ side of things, but who can argue with laser-wielding, cybernetic dinosaurs?

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HTC Vive to Launch NFT Marketplace Vive Bytes in Feb

Love them, hate them or plain not understand them, one of the hottest trends at the moment is NFTs (non-fungible tokens). There are plenty of global brands getting into this scene with HTC Vive announcing plans to launch its own marketplace called Vive Bytes next month.

Vive Bytes
3D Cat Art – Vive Bytes. Image credit: HTC Vive

Vive Bytes will be part of Viveport, the hardware-agnostic store for virtual reality (VR) videogames and apps. The NFT platform will focus on anime, cartoon, and game-themed NFTs to begin with, with the first wave of NFTs coming from the Step Into Cat Art exhibition by Shu Yamamoto.

Viveport held an online exhibition for Yamamoto’s Step Into Cat Art in September 2021, where guests could view 124 virtual versions of his work. Soon, you’ll be able to own some of these as NFTs. To begin with, the entire The Hisstine Chaple ceiling painting will be available via a series of “Collect-to-Unlock” NFT Mystery Box special events. Anyone who purchases Cat Art NFTs will also get the opportunity to buy limited-edition 3D Cat Art model NFTs, like the one above.

As for Vive Bytes itself, the platform will support both fiat and cryptocurrency payments at launch as well as the ability to link MetaMask wallets to users accounts. In the future, the marketplace plans to add auction features.

Cat Art
3D Cat Art – Vive Bytes. Image credit: HTC Vive

“NFTs are changing how we think about identity and ownership, and Vive Bytes is at the forefront of unlocking the potential of creative works and making digital works more accessible for consumers and creators,” said Joseph Lin, general manager at Viveport in a statement. “Following the launch of the world’s first Cat Art online exhibition with our partners last year, we’re delivering new formats of CAT ART NFTs – enabling visitors to grow and diversify their collection of digital works.”

However, this isn’t HTC Vive’s first foray into NFTs. Back in December as part of its Viverse strategy, the company sold NFTs of Art Nouveau masterpieces by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha via its Vive Arts Marketplace.

Vive Bytes is scheduled to launch in mid-February featuring exclusive NFTs during its inaugural sales event. For further updates on the new marketplace, keep reading gmw3.

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HTC Vive Flow is all About Improving Mental Health

Vive Flow

So after all those teasing images and recent leaks, the time has come for HTC Vive to officially unveil its latest virtual reality (VR) device. And those leaks were correct, the Vive Flow is a new, smartphone-compatible headset designed for media consumption. Not only that, the company has revealed a whole new platform, Viveport Verse for customers to access content from.

Vive Flow

HTC Vive has now confirmed that Vive Flow is focused on helping users relax and improve their mental health. Weighing in at 189g with a dual-hinge design to adjust to most heads, Vive Flow will allow users to watch movies streamed off their phones using Miracast, enjoy meditation apps like TRIPP and connect with colleagues and friends using Vive Sync.

Vive Flow has a 100-degree field of view (FoV), 3.2K resolution (2x 2.1” LCD 1600 x1600 per eye) and a 75 Hz refresh rate. The device should be great for those who wear glasses as it has an in-built diopter adjustment on each lens up to -6.0D. Other features include 6DoF tracking, 4GB RAM, 64GB of storage, stereo speakers, an active cooling system and the ability to connect to an external power source – a 10,000mAh Vive power bank will be separately available – when not connected to a phone. There is a small internal battery that’ll last around five minutes, purely there for hot-swapping between power sources.

Because Vive Flow doesn’t have any controllers users will be able to use their phones as a 3DoF controller instead. In fact, Vive Flow is completely geared around phone connectivity, if you’re not using it to select an app then you can screencast onto the headset. Currently, these features are only supported on Android devices.

Vive Flow

“With Vive Flow, HTC is taking technology in a new direction, focusing not on what we do, but on how we feel. Maintaining our wellness has come to the forefront in the last few years, with so many millions feeling stressed every day, so it has never been more important to take time out to calm our minds, and VIVE Flow provides the perfect opportunity to escape our four walls and immerse ourselves in our ideal ambience,” said Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC in a statement. “Meditation, gentle stretches, brain training, streaming our favourite shows or even meeting friends or co-workers in VR with VIVE Sync can all be enhanced by a device light and compact enough to fit in our pocket. VIVE Flow represents the next evolution of technology, as we take a more holistic view of how we can make life better.” 

Additionally, there will be a special £5.29 GBP per month Vive Flow subscription plan for Viveport for users to access compatible content.

Vive Flow pre-orders begin today for £499 / $499 USD with a special incentive to order before 31st October, you’ll get £90 worth of free gifts (the official Vive Flow carry case, a bundle of 7 titles and 2 months of Viveport Infinity). Official sales then begin in November. For further updates keep reading VRFocus.

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Viveport has the Purrrfect Exhibition for Cat Lovers

Viveport Cat Art

Currently, HTC Vive’s distribution platform Viveport is playing host (or one of the hosts) to Venice VR Expanded, the annual immersive selection of the Venice International Film Festival. If that’s not your thing then maybe Viveport’s next online exhibition will be, Step into CAT ART by iconic Japanese artist Shu Yamamoto.

Cat Art

Yamamoto has partnered with HTC Vive’s platform to bring his work into virtual reality (VR) for the first time, seeing his cat characters in static paintings to come to life. Step into CAT ART will feature virtual versions of all 124 pieces of Yamamoto’s The Hisstine Chapel murals as well as pieces such as Mewna Lisa and The Kitty with The Pearl Earring.

Viveport’s technical team helped Yamamoto re-design his paintings to have interactive elements, audio details and movement. Being on Viveport, numerous visitors are able to enter the same venue at the same time with the exhibition supporting multiple devices including mobile, PC, and VR headsets. Additionally, for the true cat aficionado, a cat Instagram filter will be released for iOS and Android devices, allowing cat owners to put their own kitties faces into the CAT ART.

“Viveport’s mission is to enrich people culturally in VR across art, games, and video, and in doing so continue to grow and expand the robust Vive Metaverse worldwide. It’s incredible seeing how immersion can completely change the way you experience a moment, whether that’s appreciating artwork, watching a story, or playing a game,” said Joseph Lin, President of Viveport in a statement. 

Viveport Cat Art

Keeping with current trends the exhibition will also feature its own NFT (Non-Fungible Token) store where you can purchase NFTs representing CAT ART pieces, supporting fiat, ETH and Matic payments.

“Our collaboration with Shu Yamamoto’s CAT ART is a fantastic example of combining art with VR and NFTs in a continued expansion of the Metaverse. We hope to convey the unique cat perspective envisioned by Shu Yamamoto through this exhibition, and ultimately provide visitors with a unique and immersive viewing and shopping experience,” Lin adds.

The Step into CAT ART online exhibition opens on 17th September 2021 until 31st March 2022. Tickets cost $7.99 USD / €6.99 EUR. The NFT store opens the same day. For further Viveport updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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Quest Users Can Play a Library of Top PC VR Games for Free for a Month with This Promo

Looking for some free PC VR games to play on Quest? Viveport, HTC’s storefront for VR games and apps, is throwing out free promo codes to owners of Oculus Quest and Quest 2 which will let you play all of the games enrolled in its Infinity program for a whole month.

Viveport really has come a long way in the past few years by streamlining its interface and making it more attractive to developers financially so they’ll list their games there. To get more Quest users on board with Infinity, HTC is throwing out a limited-time promotion starting today to both new and existing Viveport Infinity members which lets you play for free for a month. The promo ends on August 30th, so make sure to act fast.

Right now there’s over 500 games available through Infinity that support Quest over link, some of which are definitely worth your time. Highlights include The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, Superhot VR, Moss, Until You Fall, Stride, I Expect You to Die, and Gun Club VR.

Viveport Infinity normally costs $13 per month when billed monthly, or $9 when billed annually—and typically includes a free 14-day trial. There’s no obligation to pay after the trial is up if you decide to opt-out. As it is, that’s a pretty great deal considering the list of titles on offer through the Infinity subscription service, but extra time never hurt.

Image courtesy HTC

To redeem, you’ll need to download and update the Viveport desktop app and connect your Quest to a USB 3.0 port or a Type-C port on your VR-capable computer. You should then see a pop-up message like the one above. The code, which you can redeem via the ‘Redeem Code’ dropdown in the app, must be used by December 31st, 2021, at 23:59pm PST, or it will expire.

If you don’t see the message above for whatever reason, or can’t because you’re using Air Link, you can also submit your Quest headset S/N (the 14-digit alphanumeric serial number) and your Viveport account email to Viveport Support to get the code.

Check out our hands-on with Viveport from 2019, a majority of which still rings true if you’re hesitant to download yet another store front on your PC. It’s a great way to play a good chunk of the top PC VR games, especially if you’re a ‘one and done’ type of gamer and rarely revisit games you’ve already beaten.

Is your PC capable of playing VR games? Check if your PC is VR ready and we’ll walk you through the process.

The post Quest Users Can Play a Library of Top PC VR Games for Free for a Month with This Promo appeared first on Road to VR.

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Bandai Namco Partners with HTC to Bring Anime Content to Viveport

HTC announced it’s partnering with Bandai Namco Pictures, the animation studio and production company, to ostensibly bring a number of its properties to Viveport, HTC’s VR app store and subscription service.

It’s not clear in what capacity Bandai Namco’s anime will arrive on Viveport, however the company says its going to roll out “new immersive animations and virtual social interactions” targeted at both hardcore gamers and causal users in the next few months.

Bandai Namco Pictures is known for producing a large portfolio of properties including Aikatsu!, Battle Spirits, Tiger & Bunny, Gintama, and Sergeant Keroro.

The companies bill the partnership as a way for HTC to expand its intellectual property portfolio, while broadening Bandai Namco Pictures’ reach into VR.

President of Viveport Joseph Lin says “anime content”—no specifics here—will be available on Viveport.

Ozaki Masayuki, president and CEO of Bandai Namco Pictures, says the deal will allow them to “create an environment where fans can enjoy experiences together, transcending physical limitations, as if they were diving directly into the world of our creations from anywhere in the world.”

Again, it’s not exactly clear what the companies have lined up, however it seems like it could be anything from a social platform with livestreaming 2D anime, bespoke anime-inspired VR games, and possibly also VR versions of card games Aikatsu!, Battle Spirits.

The partnership is said to initially focus on “the integration of animation content, development and distribution resources from both companies, ongoing collaborations on new animation and IP development, and robust exploration of new business opportunities.”

The post Bandai Namco Partners with HTC to Bring Anime Content to Viveport appeared first on Road to VR.

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Viveport to See VR Anime Explosion With Bandai Namco Partnership

Viveport Infinity

HTC Vive’s Viveport platform has never been the most prominent of the digital stores yet it does offer unique features like its Infinity subscription service. Today, the platform has announced a new partnership with Bandai Namco Pictures to bring its anime collection into VR with new immersive animations and virtual social interactions, further enhancing Viveport’s unique place within the industry.

HTC VIVEPORT
Joseph Lin, President of Viveport and Ozaki Masayuki, President and CEO of Bandai Namco Pictures.

The partnership will see new services come to Viveport over the coming months, based on Bandai Namco Pictures’ original animation series. Which IPs will make the leap into VR haven’t been confirmed just yet but the catalogue could include series such as Aikatsu!, Battle Spirits, and Tiger & Bunny. This could also include animations based on hit comic titles such as the Gintama series and Sergeant Keroro series.

Initially looking to focus on the integration of animated content, fans of those shows can look forward to a wide range of virtual experiences, stepping inside these anime shows for the first time. This will help Bandai Namco Pictures to broaden its content offering to users worldwide whilst Viveport adds another interesting reason to give it your attention.

“The future of virtual reality is about delivering experiences and exploring infinite possibilities to be realized,” said Joseph Lin, President of Viveport in a statement. “We are honoured to become BN Pictures’ first VR partner. Through this collaboration, we can bring animation content to a higher level and push the frontiers to unlock the full potential of virtual reality. In the next few months, anime content will be available on Viveport and more virtual experiences will be delivered to our audience. Please stay tuned – more exciting things are on the way!”

Viveport Infinity

“We at Bandai Namco Pictures are an animation production company that has produced and owned numerous TV series, OVAs, Web animations, and theatrical films, and in particular, we continue to actively produce original works,” said Ozaki Masayuki, President and CEO of Bandai Namco Pictures. “By combining the original animation planning and production know-how that we have cultivated over the years with HTC’s advanced technological capabilities and strength as a communications platform, we will be able to create an environment where fans can enjoy experiences together, transcending physical limitations, as if they were diving directly into the world of our creations from anywhere in the world. We are very much looking forward to evolving this newly born space together with our fans.”

Viveport has been around for a few years now, offering a completely agnostic platform for PC VR users. It may not get the newest VR titles right away but its subscription model is the only one on the market for VR. As further details on the partnership are released, VRFocus will keep you updated.

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Lost Horizon Returns to Sansar This Spring, Free Tickets for Viveport Users

Sansar

Winter has faded away and the Spring sunshine is here but going outside to enjoy parties, festivals and other gatherings with friends and family is still a little way off. Not to worry as event organisers still have big plans and just like last year there going to be digital. HTC Vive has announced its partnering with social platform Sansar to help deliver Lost Horizon’s Spring season of live-streamed events.

Sansar

Lost Horizon is put together by the team behind Glastonbury’s Shangri-La experience, offering a mixture of music and art. There are six stages (Gas Tower, Freedom, Nomad, Shangrilart Gallery, SHITV and Landing Zone) each with its own programming and style. Artists taking part this year include Jaden Thompson, Kill the Noise, Malone, The Martinez Brothers, and Tisok.

“We all hoped that we’d be back in the fields and live venues this summer, but as soon as we realised that would be impossible, we knew we had to open our doors and share our platform and knowledge, creating bespoke worlds for any event that wants to take its audience into the virtual world,” said Robin Collings, director at Lost Horizon and Shangri-La, in a statement.

To join in with the festivities you’ll need to set up a free Sansar account if you don’t already have one. You can then jump into the social platform using Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or Valve Index, or stream via a PC browser, tablet or smartphone. Just like any event tickets are on sale, either individually or $20 USD for the season ticket. However, thanks to HTC Vive’s participation Viveport users can access the events for free, simply follow this link for the redemption codes.

Sansar

“We are so happy that Lost Horizon is opening its doors to the entire event industry to create unique, creative shows for a global audience,” adds Sheri Bryant, President of Sansar. “Sansar is here to provide the technology that powers all partners through the challenging times the music events industry is experiencing right now. We take comfort in knowing the upcoming Lost Horizon virtual shows will bring a sense of togetherness and social interaction for music fans around the world.”

The Lost Horizon seasonal events don’t purely provide music and art, there’s also a focus on human interaction with guided meditation, hidden wormholes, interactive games and secret quests to explore. For continued updates, keep reading VRFocus. 

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Major Update Arrives This Week for Ven VR Adventure’s Steam Launch

Ven VR Adventure

Monologic Games launched platformer Ven VR Adventure for Oculus Rift in December 2020 offering classic gameplay wrapped up in an immersive world. The studio announced this month that a Steam and Viveport launch is due this week and has just revealed it’ll include a major update as well.

Ven VR Adventure

Ven VR Adventure‘s v1.2 patch will see some major changes added to the overall gameplay experience. For instance, difficulty levels will be available affecting the number of checkpoints each level has and the amount of lives Ven begins with.

Due to the structure of some levels, there were moments where Ven ends up in the far distance making him trickier to manoeuvre. This has been addressed with Monologic Games redesigning these locations to refine the whole experience.

Full Ven VR Adventure changelog for v1.2 patch:

  • Places where players had difficulty during gameplay because Ven was too far from them were redesigned in every location in the game. It brings a lot of improvement to the gameplay but the base experience stays the same.
  • Added difficulty levels to the game – player can change them during profile creation as well as during gameplay.
  • Difficulty levels do not affect level design but determine:
    • Number of checkpoints.
    • Number of lives for Ven at the start.
    • Number of runes and crates demanded to gain additional life.
  • Snap Turn Option – default on.
  • Added hints in a form of new pictures in tablet – a lot of players were not using special attack or they had problems with some game mechanics.
  • Added an indicator of collected runes on the right-hand watch.
  • Fixed problem with frogs – now they will always kill player with one strike.
  • Huge number of fixes and tweaks for the tutorial, menu and lobby.
  • Various bug fixes, optimization and stability improvements.
Ven VR Adventure

Ven VR Adventure will launch on Steam and Viveport supporting Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Valve Index this Thursday, 28th January. The patch will arrive the same day for Oculus Rift users on the Oculus Store.

When reviewing Ven VR Adventure VRFocus found: “There’s a lot to love about Ven VR Adventure, from its gorgeous environments to its unrelenting desire to challenge your gameplay skills and patience.”

A date for the native Oculus Quest version has yet to be released. When that happens VRFocus will let you know.