HTC announced that it has launched its own VR dev division, Vive Studios.
Vive Studios will use a publishing model similar to console games, where the label will produce first-party content through internal developers, such as 2 Bears, as well as partner with external developers. For external developers, Vive Studios is now a partner they can turn to for development funding as well as publishing and marketing support on VR content.
Vive Studios is actively creating content across key categories for VR including games, education, cinematic, design, social, real-estate and sports, as well as tools and applications that can revolutionize areas such as media, retail, healthcare, and location-based entertainment centers and arcades.
The debut title from Vive Studios is "Arcade Saga," a fast-paced first-party VR game for HTC Vive developed by internal studio 2 Bears Studios.
"Arcade Saga" is a fast, colorful VR game inspired by arcade games but with a twist, where players find themselves taking on the role of A.I. fighting threats developed by humans. Designed to enslave CPUs, these threats represent firewalls and viruses that manifest as three distinct challenges – Fracture, Smash, and Bowshot – each taking inspiration from arcade classics such as Breakout, Galaga and Arkanoid. The game delivers more than 84 levels to master, with an upgrade system to gain new weapons and abilities, and massive boss fights to overcome.
2 Bears Studios is led by game veterans from Microsoft Game Studios, Rockstar and Midway who have now joined senior engineers at HTC Vive to develop the next generation of VR experiences.
"Arcade Saga" is available now for the Vive virtual reality system on Steam at the MSRP of $29.99 USD. The title is also available in China on Viveport, HTC's VR app store.
