Bigscreen today announced it’s launched a new feature called Bigscreen Cinema, which brings a paid option to its free social VR platform that will let you buy a ticket to watch select 2D and 3D films each week.
Films, which can be seen in either private or public virtual cinemas on the Bigscreen platform, are priced between $4 and $5 (or local equivalent), and can be purchased on the company’s website. Unlike video on demand services, each week Bigscreen will be hosting four different films, which premiere every Friday at 6PM ET (local time here) and start every 30 minutes.
This week’s films include 3D versions of Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon (2017) and Ghost in the Shell (2017), and 2D versions of Star Trek (2009) and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
Upcoming films include Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Terminator Genisys (2015), Interstellar (2014), I Love You, Man (2009), Star Trek Beyond (2016), Top Gun (1986), and Terminator 2 (1991), to name a few.
Bigscreen Cinema is launching on all supported platforms today in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, and Australia. Bigscreen supports Oculus Quest, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and all Windows VR headsets. Find out how to download it for free here.
New theaters are also arriving with the entrance of Bigscreen Cinema, with Star Trek getting a space ship-inspired space and Indiana Jones debuting in an ’80s themed retro cinema.
Up until now, Bisgscreen has been entirely free. The company is offering these films in partnership with Paramount, and will be announcing additional partnership soon, however this represents the first big steps for the company to begin monetizing its social viewing platform, which already benefits from user-to-user desktop mirroring.
This built-in feature works extremely well, and effectively lets you share anything you can watch locally with other VR users, thereby creating impromptu viewing parties and attracting like-minded users. The company is also putting special emphasis on its weekly 3D films, as streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video typically only serve up 2D versions.
This follows Bigscreen’s update this summer that brought 50+ streaming TV channels to the platform, which include streams from YouTube, Twitch, Pluto, and Comet. And yes, PSVR support is said to arrive to Bigscreen sometime in 2020, hopefully bringing its full suite of mirroring and streaming features.