HTC Announce Subscription Service

[Hiro_Protag0nist]

Apologies if this has been posted - i'd be amazed if it hasn't but i haven't seen it yet.  Will this work - i think most people run away from subscription services (if they have a choice).

HTC wants to make it easier for Vive owners to find the best virtual reality apps, so it came up with an interesting way to run its store: as a subscription service.

In the next few months, HTC plans to launch a subscription option for its Viveport app storethat’ll allow subscribers to use apps, games, and other content without explicitly paying for each item. It’s a neat idea that could make it much easier for subscribers to find things they enjoy, since they’ll be able to try out anything that interests them without committing to a purchase.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/4/14170896/htc-viveport-app-subscription-service-announced

[kevinw729]

@andyring - I think that the consumer platform will take a lot of
finenessing to become a thing, but in reality it is the 'Viveport Arcade'
subscription service for commercial entertainment application (DOE) that
is the real meat of this announcement.



A lot of the VR media
felt uncomfortable going into any detail (except for a few like VRFocus)
- but the reality is that after the current success of the platform in
China they want to import it here. And have already started to look at
some 10-new VR Arcade offerings in the Western market. Linked to the new
Vive Tracker system, then the VR Arcade Arena experience is gaining
some serious momentum.

For many Indie developers the money they will get our of Viveport
Arcade, or the equivalents could be much more substantial than any of
the promises they have received from other consumer VR game delivery
systems. Begging many questions on the true viability of developing for
consumer VR.



I was just in a meeting with a very large
retail operation looking at opening a number of VR Arcades themselves -
so this is gaining huge momentum - I just have to wonder why OVR is so
dead set against this market opportunity?

[edmg]

So I can subscribe to Viveport for a few dollars a month, and play fifty games in a month that only have two hours of gameplay, meaning the developers will get maybe $0.20 each.

That clearly makes financial sense for game developers.

[kevinw729]

Yes, agree - the consumer model does not work as of yet.

Compared to the VR arcade version, where players paying their $20-odd for VR experiences, the venue pays 20% back to the developers.

Much better than the current "sorry your game made no sales" that those supporting certainVR game delivery services saw (even when their games were actually selling!)

[edmg]

Yes, the arcade version makes a lot more sense at $10 a playthrough rather than $10 a month. But consumer subscription models rarely make sense for content producers; they've been pretty much a disaster for ebooks, for example.

[kevinw729]

Yes, valid points - but as you know my "stick" is not the consumer model
but the arcade approach - which I have always seen as a valid approach to
an embryonic market.



Those people that tried to claim that the
Indies would find a business model in the new PC VR universe seem to
have gone very quiet of late! Sad to see so many devs having to look at
other means to survive and getting cold shouldered from those that they helped and
encouraged them to support these platforms.



I am still surprised
by how the Steam platform works so well for Valve and that devs make a
good living out of it, but they do - why some felt they needed to
compete with Steam to create their own "walled garden" eco-system (and
so split the VR community) just makes me wonder!

[Zenbane]

kevinw729 said:

Those people that tried to claim that the
Indies would find a business model in the new PC VR universe seem to
have gone very quiet of late!

Because "the Indies" are receiving plenty of funding to develop their new app's. People are quiet because the prediction became true, and now developers are working on their projects while consumers are enjoying the end-result.

Take NDreams as an example. That is an Indie studio that made, The Assembly. They recently received 2.5 millions dollars continue their VR efforts:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/285670/The_Assembly_dev_nDreams_nets_25M_to_continue_VR_push.php

So yes, people have gone quiet... because they were right! And you're here trying to dismiss all that just based on the fact that things are quiet? You always lecture people on this forum about being so "general" and "dismissive," and you just did both of those things here.

[kevinw729]

No Zenbane, I lecture you on being simplistic!
And now as we look closley at post ban Zenbane - vulnerabe.

[Zenbane]

I can quote you specifically lecturing people on being dismissive and general. Do we really need to quote you to get you to admit it? lol 

And when it comes to VR, I land on the technical side and you are always conceptual. I'm pretty sure conceptual is more simplistic than technical  😉

[kevinw729]

I appreciate the olive branch, and also your patience with my approach to forum discussion. I agree we seem to be on different sides of the same coin. I just wonder if the forum would be able to handle if we sat down and had a dedicated discussion on the viability of OVR against where the VR sector seems to be heading?

Thank you for being open to discuss this.