HTC’s out of home VR initiative is taking shape as the company officially unveils plans for Viveport Arcade in China and Taiwan and a partnership with Leke VR’s “offline content distribution system” in a thousand locations before the close of 2016 and thousands more by 2017’s end.
HTC continues to explore every opportunity to capitalize on its partnership with Valve, and its Vive VR system. In addition to launching its own proprietary VR content portal Viveport the company is investing heavily in the creation of virtual reality content with it’s ViveX program.
Now, HTC is looking to position itself as a potential leader in out of home VR entertainment sector with the launch of their new Viveport Arcade initiative alongside a newly announced strategic partnership with out of home entertainment specialists Leke VR, utilising their VRLe content distribution system. So what can visitors expect from the new “Experience stores”? This promotional video gives a quick look at the VRLe content delivery system as well as a peek at various arcade-style interactive experiences that could feature at the new Leke VR stores.
“This strategic partnership between Vive and Leke VR is a clear win-win for the both parties, while also helping to accelerate advancement of the VR industry as a whole in China,” said Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of Vive, HTC. “Leke VR has extensive offline channels, while we bring a broad range of high-quality content through Viveport Arcade that has been optimized for out-of-home entertainment. By combining resources, consumers, VR developers and VR arcade operators will all benefit.”
VR developers take note too, HTC are looking upon this new initiative as another channel via which to monetise your creations. Whilst Leke VR will provide the distribution platform, venues and facilities, HTC is in charge of curating and channelling content for users to play. “Vive will be in charge of operations management and market support for the content in order to ensure an optimized VR experience for consumers. The partnership also stipulates that different feature content will be recommended to offline users each season, multiplying the cash flow for content developers.”
“The arrival of hundreds of premium Viveport Arcade VR content on the VRLe offline content distribution platform provides offline VR consumers with more diversified user experiences and brings the total number of titles available on the VRLe platform to 300,” saidEvan He, CEO and founder of Beijing Leke VR Technology Co., Ltd. “The objective of this strategic partnership between Leke VR and Vive is to jointly promote the development of the VR content ecosystem. With this major boost, the VRLe offline content distribution platform will seek to continue enriching user experiences and cooperate with more VR content partners set on revolutionizing the VR experience.”
The partnership is already in full flow with 1000 locations planned to be up and running across China and Taiwan before the close of 2016 and 1000s more scheduled to be brought online within 2017. An ambitious plan indeed.
Perhaps understandably then, HTC is keen to hear from developers and “experience store” (i.e. venue) owners to help them deliver. You can register your interest in the Viveport Arcade program by heading here.