Arcade Saga, a futuristic sports action game from HTC’s internal Vive Studios development and publishing group, could be coming to PSVR. Launched for the Vive headset in December 2016, the game quickly received Oculus Rift support, and recently saw further optimisations for Oculus Touch. Now wanting to bring the game to PSVR, HTC is going a step above to demonstrate their commitment to platform agnostic VR content.

Photo courtesy HTC
Photo courtesy HTC

When HTC launched Vive Studios along with Arcade Saga last year, it appeared to be a comparable initiative to Oculus Studios, albeit with an intention to support a broader range of VR applications beyond gaming. While Oculus’ major funding of VR content is focused on that which will be exclusive to its platform, HTC’s strategy is different, as stated on the Vive Studios homepage: “Our interest in VR extends well beyond games and entertainment, covering content that’s intended for all major VR platforms.”

Joel Breton, VP of Content for Vive, has been critical of Oculus’ strategy of funding exclusive titles, stating in a recent interview with Gamespot:

[…] at Vive Studios, we’re platform agnostic, and we encourage developers to be the same. So what I mean by that is [developers should] develop for all VR platforms that make sense. So we create first party content, second party content, and support third party developers. And we encourage all of those, including our own internal studios, to put their content on all platforms because that gives them the best opportunity for two things which are critical. One, to make more money, to generate more revenue, but also to build a community, because beyond money, the most important thing for a developers is to build a community around the game. So by having their content only on one platform, say Vive, they’re going to be blocking out a bunch of the market. So if it’s possible to port your game [to other VR platforms]… then we encourage developers to do that.

He uses Arcade Saga, a first-party title from HTC, as an example, noting its Vive and Rift support, and that he wants to bring the title to PSVR. “We are also talking to Sony about taking [Arcade Saga] to their platform next, and they’ve expressed a willingness to let us do that.”

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For that matter, PlayStation VR has a number of its own exclusives—including Batman: Arkham VR which is now launching this month on Vive and Rift—but is far less entrenched in the VR exclusives debate thanks to it being a console-based headset where exclusives are the status quo.

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The trial version of Microsoft’s Monster Truck Madness probably had something to do with it. And certainly the original Super Mario Kart and Gran Turismo. A car nut from an early age, Dominic was always drawn to racing games above all other genres. Now a seasoned driving simulation enthusiast, and former editor of Sim Racer magazine, Dominic has followed virtual reality developments with keen interest, as cockpit-based simulation is a perfect match for the technology. Conditions could hardly be more ideal, a scientist once said. Writing about simulators lead him to Road to VR, whose broad coverage of the industry revealed the bigger picture and limitless potential of the medium. Passionate about technology and a lifelong PC gamer, Dominic suffers from the ‘tweak for days’ PC gaming condition, where he plays the same section over and over at every possible combination of visual settings to find the right balance between fidelity and performance. Based within The Fens of Lincolnshire (it’s very flat), Dominic can sometimes be found marvelling at the real world’s ‘draw distance’, wishing virtual technologies would catch up.
  • Multiplataformgamerz

    i’m sure they want to trade this for korix

  • Jonny C

    Good on them.

  • Toby Zuijdveld

    This is a solid move for a Vive-specific developer; while not opening up to their direct competition in the Rift, they open themselves up to a new market almost twice as large as their current install base.

    Even the previously PSVR exclusive titles being ported to PC such as Batman and Battlezone ‘only’ stand to double their market by catering to BOTH PC devices.

    At the end of the day, exclusivity helps hardware manufacturers, but not consumers (and in the long term, it’s consumers that need to benefit if the fledgling industry is to thrive). All of the major players have proclaimed that they’re in it for the long term, so porting between platforms needs to happen at some point. I feel like 6 months or so is an adequate trade off.

  • This is a step in the right direction. I think it would be beneficial to VR in general for all platforms to remove all exclusivity.