It's not all about the games, you know
Until now, HTC Vive owners have primarily used Valve’s Steam platform to download and use software on the headset, but HTC is now rolling out its own store, Viveport.
Virtual reality is still very gaming-heavy right now, but we’re seeing more and more non-game experiences released for VR systems, so Viveport is HTC’s way of better showcasing that content.
Viveport, which launched in China back in April, is now available across the world, offering a wide-ranging selection of titles about exploration, creation, education, and experiencing VR with friends. There’s a section titled ‘Steam games we love’ that handpicks a few gaming favs, but these aren’t as prominent as the other “experiences”.
There’s also a special premiering section for content hitting the Viveport before any other store, which right now includes new content for Everest VR and Google Spotlight Stories, among others.
To get things going, HTC is offering a bunch of titles at just $1 for the first 48 hours of launch, including theBlu, Mars Odyssey and Firebird. If you’re thinking of getting a Vive headset in the future, it might be a good time to stock up on content.
Read this: The best HTC Vive games you need to play
We expect Valve will eventually broaden its SteamVR platform beyond HTC’s hardware, at which point the partnership between the two will be far less special, and HTC having its own store will probably be a very good idea.
But HTC is also thinking about the broader ecosystem too. When we spoke to the company about the Viveport store a few months ago, it said it had plans to support headsets beyond the Vive.
“We’re currently focused on releasing Viveport for HTC Vive, however our longer-term strategy is to make it an all-encompassing VR content destination, not just HTC Vive.”
