Starting in Spring 2017, you’ll be able to pay a flat monthly fee for VR games using the Viveport digital distribution platform. HTC calls itself the first ever global app store to announce a subscription service for VR content.

Announced at VRLA last summer, Viveport is somewhat of a parallel marketplace to Steam, featuring all-VR content across several genres, including information, edutainment, social media, 360˚ video, news, sports, health, travel and shopping. Some content is exclusively published on Viveport, such as the recently released The Physiology of the Eye (2016), an interactive training VR application.

Using the new subscription service, HTC says you’ll be able to download select titles from a curated pool of VR apps of their choosing, a nice idea if you’re new to VR and don’t know where to start once you’ve ripped through all the free and bundled content with your headset.

HTC hasn’t mentioned exactly what their “low monthly fee” will be, or when the service will drop, but we’ll be interested to see what the pool of apps looks like before we throw our money down.

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“We’re happy to let VR fans know that the same way they discover and consume content through popular subscription services for music, films, TV and games is coming to virtual reality,” said Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport. “For developers, this is yet another opportunity for them to reach broader audiences – we want to give VR developers as many ways as possible to monetize and feature their content, and this is yet another channel for them to reach new customers on Viveport.”

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HTC offers Viveport in two other flavors; a dedicated enterprise app store destined to be filled with VR tools for professionals in areas such as medicine, architecture, design, 3D modeling and workforce training; and Viveport Arcade platform, a digital storefront designed for arcades, cinemas, amusement parks and other location-based entertainment centers wanting to introduce their customers to VR.

HTC currently has more than 1,000 locations where Viveport Arcade is installed, and is expected to grow to more than 5,000 locations globally by the end of this year.

Early signups for Viveport’s subscription service free trails are currently available through the Viveport website.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • DiGiCT Ltd

    It is a good move, but i dont think this is unique or new.
    As far as i know NVIDIA was also working on this kind of concept for normal games in the cloud.
    However for VR they are the first at this moment.
    It would make games cheaper to enjoy for gamers, but it does not take away the currently high prices for VR.
    The biggest worry for developers is actually user base, especially when you talk about multiplayer games.
    There are not enough VR players for most VR multiplayer games at this moment.
    This move might help to get more people play.

    • Mitroll

      Nvidia announced that you still need to purchase the games to use them in their streaming service.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Nvidia is a streaming service, this is not.

      • DiGiCT Ltd

        Yeah the way they distribute differs, but the general idea is similar still.
        It is worth trying to deliver conetent this way to VR users. who knows this might work out maybe pretty well.
        The good point is that you only pay when you use and you dont need to worry about the platform closes down or you going to another device in future , as you never bought the games but rather rented them.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          But the currently unveiled nvidia streaming platform is where you need to buy the games yourself first (works with Steam, GOG, Origin, Uplay and the other big libraries), it’s not like the streaming service they have on the Nvidia Shield.

  • Nick Cannon

    This is perfect if the titles aren’t too limited

  • Skippy76

    They better improve the quality of their content because almost everything is available on steam. Plus the viveport bloatware is brutal!
    I won’t be signing up for this service.

    • WhywasIbanned

      Same here. I appreciate the indy boys supporting it, but the majority of the titles are just not up to a good enough standard. I have no issue in paying for proper titles, it’s just that they are far and few between. I’ll sit and wait with this sub service to see what it offers before committing.