HTC is set to roll out the VR app store it calls Viveport in fall later this year, giving Vive headset owners another source to download content other than Steam.
According to the company, it'll have all the "latest and greatest" experiences that the technology has to offer, and it's expected to bring a rich variety of software to the table.
"Viveport will feature content across exciting, new categories for VR-like information, edutainment, social media, 360-degree video, news, sports, health, travel and shopping," HTC says.
On top of that, the Vive Home is also getting a significant update at the same time when Viveport goes official, sporting interactive widgets and many others in the foreseeable future.
Just to be clear, HTC doesn't seem to be out to compete with Steam but to provide users a way to get to VR apps that aren't mainly based on gaming. As a testament to that, the company even encourages developers to release apps across the platforms. In other words, it's just bringing in an alternative for consumers who aren't that inclined to gaming as much as they are to general points of interest.
As anticipated, it's going to get off the ground as a developer beta before it becomes completely accessible to everyone, and it's slated to launch in a few weeks' time to 30 countries.
For the record, the VR-focused digital storefront is already up in China, and it has been available since spring. That's largely because Steam is not that widespread in the country.
"The HTC store is more of an option for people who can't use Steam. You'll be able to use it anywhere but if you take a look at China, for example, where we had the dev conference, Steam doesn't really have that much user base there," Shen Ye, VR product specialist at HTC, says.
Long story short, the Viveport appears to be HTC's attempt to deliver VR experiences and content to non-gaming folks in a convenient manner.
With all said and done, developers can already go ahead and sign up for the beta at the Vive website for developers. It's also worth mentioning that the company and Valve recently open sourced the tracking system of the headset for third-party hardware, and in light of that, the future of VR is shaping up well.
Don't forget to hit us up in the comment section below and let us know what you think of the Viveport.
