“We have entered a golden age of virtual reality content creation with incredibly powerful game engines, toolkits, and development kits at the fingertips of talented content creators worldwide.” – Joel Breton
Vive has their own studio now to create the next generation of VR content.
HTC is getting into the VR content development game with the launch of Vive Studios. Announced Thursday, Vive Studios is HTC’s internal VR development team that’s been stealthily creating content to be released to consumers. Earlier this year, HTC hired game veterans with pedigree hailing from titles such as Fable 2, Lord of the Rings, Gears of War and other massive AAA hits to create the internal studio.
Joel Breton, VP of Content Development at HTC, stated that the “VR ecosystem needs a persistent flow of exciting experiences and AAA content that can help grow our audience.”
With a majority of VR content available on the market being shorter experiences made by independent developers, high end VR users often crave deeper experiences. Titles such as Fallout 4 VR and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard are slated for a 2017 release date with fans counting down the days.
Vive Studios will follow a business model closer to traditional console game companies with internal development teams creating games, as well as providing publishing partnerships to external developers with HTC supporting on things such as development funding, marketing support and publishing services.
Also unveiled today is the launch of HTC’s first internal title Arcade Saga developed by 2 Bears Studios. 2 Bears Studios is led by game veterans from Microsoft Game Studios, Rockstar and Midway who have now joined senior engineers at HTC Vive to develop the next generation of VR experiences. Arcade Saga presents a 3-in-1 combo of challenges which were inspired by arcade classics such as Breakout, Galaga and Arkanoid.
VRScout had the opportunity to demo Arcade Saga, and they were solid game experiences that have massive replay potential by including upgrade systems, global leaderboards and boss fights. You are able to fight a flying “dragon” with upgradable bows, defend against multiple waves of projectiles with your dual shields and destroy enemies by smashing them with a home run.
Vive Studios is actively creating and funding content for not just games, but other key VR categories such as education, cinematic, design, social, real estate, and sports along with tools and applications that will help traditional industries like media, retail, healthcare, and location-based entertainment centers and arcades.
Arcade Saga is available now for the Vive on Steam for $29.99 USD. The title will also be available in China on Viveport, HTC’s VR app store.
