HTC Launches Viveport App Store for Vive Virtual Reality Headset
HTC officially launched an app store for its Vive virtual reality (VR) headset Friday. The app store, dubbed Viveport, not only features games, but also a number of cinematic virtual reality experiences.
Among the Viveport launch titles is the Vive version of “Pearl,” the Google-produced animated short that debuted at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. Also new is an updated version of theBLU, a VR experience that lets players explore oceanic life, produced by Santa Monica-based VR studio WEVR. Vive is selling theBLU and some other titles for $1 during a 48-hour Viveport launch period.
HTC began selling its Vive virtual reality headset in April. Designed for room-scale VR experiences, the Vive allows users to move around in a space of up to 10 by 10 feet, which makes for extremely immersive experiences. However, all of this comes at a price: Not only does the Vive cost $800, consumers also need to spend another $1000 or more for a powerful gaming PC to run Vive apps.
HTC’s Vive has been competing directly with the Rift VR headset from Facebook-owned Oculus. Next month, the two companies will get some additional competition from Sony, which is scheduled to ship its PlayStation VR headset on October 13.
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