Seattle-based startup VReal has managed to raise $3.3 million from investors as it works to develop a comprehensive streaming platform for VR games and experiences.
This has significant implications for VR game makers, since streamers can have a big impact on game sales and VReal’s platform is designed to allow players to broadcast themselves playing VR games to both 2D and 3D viewing devices.
VReal is also being designed to allow viewers to create avatars and interact with both each other and the broadcasters they’re watching in a VR space, and the startup is actively looking for developers to integrate its tech into their games.
The VReal platform is expected to enter a public beta period later this year, and VReal chief Todd Hooper told Fortune that it will be integrated into games that are slated to be announced at E3 in June.
“We’ve built a way for us to re-render every game in real time so when you put on a VR headset I appear in the game next to you and we can have a social experience inside the game,” Hooper told Fortune. “Just like a 2D web page and chat window on Twitch or YouTube.”
Hooper was previously a VP at Unity, and he noted that VReal is being targeted to both Unity and Unreal Engine developers. The platform is currently expected to support the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive and Sony’s PlayStation VR, as well as mobile VR headsets, though VReal viewers on mobile will only be able to view streams in 3D — they won’t be able to interact (via avatars) within VReal’s VR streaming spaces.
