HTC today announced Vive Studios as the company's internal development and publishing initiative for virtual reality content.
Vive Studios will bring to market VR content created by HTC's internal studios as well as through publishing partnerships with external developers. Also announced today is the launch of "Arcade Saga," the debut title from Vive Studios. The VR game is a first-party title for HTC Vive developed by internal studio 2 Bears 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.
"Arcade Saga" is a 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 play introduces new VR mechanics, combining the physics and physicality of games such as pinball, table tennis and archery with design and art direction drawn from the soul of a retro arcade.
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.