NextVR, the live event broadcasting platform for VR headsets, has been acquired by Apple in what was reportedly a $100 million purchase.

Update (March 15th, 2020): For the first time since reports broke back in April, Apple has confirmed that it was the buyer of the VR live streaming company NextVR, Bloomberg reports. Apple did not confirm the price of the acquisition, but earlier reports suggested $100 million.

This week NextVR’s website was stripped down leaving only a short message in its wake: “NextVR is Heading in a New Direction. Thank you to our partners and fans around the world for the role you played in building this awesome platform for sports, music and entertainment experiences in Virtual Reality.”

Original Article (April 6th, 2020): Founded in 2009, the Orange County-based startup broadcasts stereoscopic video of live sports and music to a wide swath of VR headsets, including Oculus Go, Oculus Quest, PSVR, and PC VR headsets such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift S. Its unique selling proposition has always been its ability to let fans get close to the action in a way traditional monoscopic livestreams simply can’t, i.e. by letting VR users watch live events from the best seat in the house.

The company has come a long ways since it initially launched the platform on Samsung Gear VR in 2015, amassing over 40 patents and strategic broadcasting partnerships with the likes of the NBA, NHL, WWE, FOX Sports, Live Nation, and the International Champions Cup, and significantly upping its video quality in the process. The company has also previously sets its sights on six degrees of freedom-enabled volumetric video, higher resolution output, and augmented reality support.

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According to CrunchBase, the company’s total funding comes to $115.5 million, with its latest investment, a Series B round amounting to $80 million, arriving in August 2016.

The acquisition is said to follow the company’s failure to secure a Series C round in early 2019, which coincided with a layoff of 40% of its staff.

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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.
  • Totius

    I am afraid this is bad news

  • kontis

    Stereoscopic video is a primitive dead end and Apple most likely knows it as well as Facebook and Google, which published various papers about techniques far superior than that.

    There are now even single perspective AI reconstruction methods that are better than stereoscopic faux 3D.

    So it makes no sense to me that NextVR has technology that would interest a computer vision giant like Apple that can easily create a much better solution than anything NextVR showed.

    My guess this is similar to many Facebook’s XR acquisitions – hiring a group of experienced, productive people in the field, nothing more.

    • Totius

      Agree

    • I have been very impressed by videos take with cameras like the Insta360 EVO and ZCAM K1 and 2. I would not say dead but would agree that Apple is looking for content over tech.

    • Moe Curley

      God, you make so many uninformed statement about a future as if your opinion is definitive.

    • johngrimoldy

      Apple will fuck it up eight ways to Sunday. The uneducated faithful will think it’s the best thing EVAR! Not everything Apple touches turns to gold.

  • sfmike

    The war against 3D continues.

  • jimmy

    idk what the morons above are talking about i watched nextvr videos on my quest and it was looking really good it was real vr 180 3d

    • As a person who makes VR videos for a hobby I agree VR180 content is great when done right.

      • Theresa J. Lampert

        My friend explained me which way she was averaging close to 4k /monthly by doing a work she found on the net… The great advantage of doing work on line is that I am normally home with the little babies or even I easily head out on holiday vacation for a long period. I felt quite impressed and made a decision to have a shot at it… Currently I really feel very graced she showed me this, and would commend it to each person to give it a try… This is what I do> earn14kmonthly.ixeo.com

    • Moe Curley

      Their basketball videos were great. I can definitely see all kinds of events being great in VR.

  • The price is very high, I wonder what is the reason behind it

  • Anfronie

    Bummer

  • Totius

    I guess this is very bad news. Next vr is just great, I am afraid that Apple will eventually get it closed to his platform

  • Positive Vibes

    Apple might very well release a subpar XR device but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Whatever they come up with will likely be improved upon by competitors. This is all good news for XR enthusiasts and professionals alike. I want to see XR succeed and anything Apple does to put more devices in more hands ultimately will contribute to that success. Even though things look good for the industry as whole it still feels like VR/AR/MR are viewed by many as a niche hobby. Apple’s XR device announcement will likely be the “breakthrough moment” when XR is truly seen as mainstream.

  • Caven

    Why would you post an update to the article three weeks before the article was originally posted?

    Update (March 15th, 2020)

    Original Article (April 6th, 2020)

    ;)

  • themobiledivide

    This is strictly content partnership purchase . Nextvr has a bunch of exclusive rights deals for all manner of streaming locked up for a couple of years. Apple has Apple TV now and so can now access the floors and venues of certain live sports and concerts at a measly cost of 100 million . The same set of deals negotiated by Apple possibly could have cost 10 times as much .