Now that VR hardware and games are finally trickling into the hands of consumers, people are getting more and more interested in seeing what all the fuss is about. Twitch.tv is the natural first place to look for game streaming, but the platform was designed for 2D screens and doesn’t translate particularly well to VR gaming. Vreal believes it has the answer to that problem, by bringing streaming into virtual reality.
Vreal will let you interact with and speak to your viewers, and they will be able to interact with each other. Vreal said that you’ll be able to interact with physical gestures, and steamers will be able to “pass the mic” to individual viewers. The company even suggested you’ll be able to pass digital items to your viewers while you play.
Vreal will support traditional 2D streaming, too. The software will let you configure controllable cameras so viewers have a stationary view of the VR game (a feature that Job Simulator includes), rather than being attached to the player’s head. Gamers will also be able to save local recordings taken with these cameras that can later be edited together and shared through video on demand services such as YouTube.
In addition to the 2D video outputs, Vreal will let you record 360-degree videos of gameplay sessions that can be uploaded to video sharing sites that support 360-degree content, such as YouTube and Facebook. This will allow mobile viewers to enjoy an immersive experience without an expensive VR headset.
Vreal is currently under development. The company said a public beta will be released in the latter half of this year. In the meantime, Vreal is accepting partner inquiries from interested streamers.
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