Demand For Vive Trackers Outweighs Supply, But HTC Still Accepting Submissions

By Kevin Carbotte
published

HTC revealed the Vive Tracker universal lighthouse tracked device at CES. Shortly after the reveal, the company began accepting requests for Vive trackers from developers and hardware designers. The company put 1,000 free units up for grabs, but HTC may have underestimated the demand for such a device.

HTC is giving away the first 1,000 trackers to “kick-start an accessory ecosystem” for the Vive platform, but it’s not handing the devices out to just anyone. HTC said it is evaluating each request to look for “unique experiences that add to the VR market as a whole.”  

“We are already seeing fresh thinking for VIVE Tracker, and we couldn’t be more excited by the breadth and depth of the applications we’ve received,” said Daniel O’Brien, GM, US and EMEA, HTC VIVE. “For us, the tracker represents an important investment in the VR community to grow the future of VR without limits on experimentation.”

HTC revealed that it already received more than 2,300 requests for Vive trackers to date. That doesn’t mean that HTC closed the submission form for trackers, though. “Due to the volume of applications received, the Vive team will keep applications open as our product management team reviews all submissions,” read the company’s blog post.

HTC is trying to whittle through the pile of submissions it received for trackers, but it already selected the first batch, which shipped last week. Cloudgate Games, the developer behind Island 359, is one of the lucky developers that HTC selected. Cloudgate received at least three trackers, which it is using to build a full-body tracking system for Island 359. 

We asked the company if it plans to give out more than 1,000 free trackers now that it knows the demand is there. An HTC representative said there are no current plans to increase the number of free trackers, but he said that we'd hear more about pricing and availability of the devices soon.

If you have an idea for a game or peripheral that could use a Vive Tracker, it’s not too late to apply for a unit, although you’re up against a lot of competition.

Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Joe Black
    Who wants a Vive tracker if you can't even order a Vive in your country yet?..

    Valve?.. HTC?.. A year and still throwing money at my screen. Nothing happening.
    Reply
  • Renato2005
    Who wants a Vive tracker when your Vive starts to show issues and you does not receive support?
    Reply
  • Sakkura
    Demand of 2300 for free trackers... not something you can necessarily translate to substantial consumer demand once it's properly released and costs money.
    Reply
  • SockPuppet
    Please. VR guns are going to sell like hotcakes.
    Reply
  • thoron500
    These trackers can be used for so much more than VR. They're insanely precise sub-millimeter indoor positioning systems. And they're much cheaper than competing technologies that don't even come close to that precision. What can you do with that? Kinematics, robotics, precision photography, guiding self-driving wheelchairs. The sky really is the limit.
    Reply