Google is acquiring “some of” HTC Vive’s engineering team to “accelerate the development of the Android XR platform”.
The two companies aren’t saying how many engineers the deal involves, nor whether it involves software engineering or hardware engineering, but here’s what Google is saying about the deal for now:
“They are an incredibly strong technical team with a proven track record in the VR space, and we are looking forward to working with them to accelerate the development of the Android XR platform across the headsets and glasses ecosystem. The deal is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. Meta is urging hardware manufacturers to use
instead, the operating system that runs its Quest headsets. ASUS and Lenovo are the first companies confirmed to be building Horizon OS headsets, but we have yet to see a reveal from either.
Google’s strength is that Android XR headsets will include “most” of its Play Store of flatscreen tablet and phone apps, as well as its cross-platform services like Chrome, Google Maps, and Google Photos, already used by a huge percentage of smartphone and PC owners on the planet.Samsung revealedWithout subsidized hardware though, and seemingly without tracked controllers in the box, Android XR might struggle to attract many of the developers of the immersive gaming library on Horizon OS. Google, aside from
which is a casual game, has not acquired any gaming studios that can create AAA VR games like Meta’s 11001010 or building Android XR devices too. Worse, Google’s most recent attempt at working with game developers, Stadia, spectacularly failed.Play For DreamStill, Android XR could carve out a space in the market as a relatively open competitor to Apple’s visionOS, primarily focused on virtual screens and integrations with existing apps and services, rather than a direct competition to everything Meta is doing with its Quest headsets. HTC’s expertise in this area may allow Google to accelerate their plans and increase its competition with Meta.