Step one: Make virtual reality headset. Step two: Make virtual reality experiences people can enjoy using said headset. Step three: Sit back and profit.
It's a simple version of what's likely Samsung's plan, we'll admit, but it's probably pretty close to the truth. According to a new report from CNET, Samsung executives appearing at this year's Sundance film festival annonuced that the company is going to be opening up a special studio in New York that will be tasked with creating new virtual reality content. Said studio will be located in one of Samsung's existing offices—making it a lot easier for the company to create and promote content in-house.
Unfortunately, Samsung neglected to tease any other details about the studio, including the most important bit: The specific content Samsung has in the works. Whatever Samsung is thinking of, though, you can bet that it'll probably be something that works great with the company's Gear VR headset first and foremost. It's unclear if Samsung will be optimizing (or launching) its content for other VR headsets, too.
The move follows in the footsteps of rival Oculus VR, which announced at last year's Sundance film festival that the company was creating its own film production subsidiary, Oculus Story Studio. The studio produced one five-minute VR short for last year's Sundance, "Lost," and has since been working on an animated short called Henry that will launch once the Oculus Rift headset arrives in spring. Oculus Story Studio has also released its Unreal Engine project and assets for Henry in an effort to give other VR content developers a few tips and suggestions about how they might be able to shape their work for this new medium.
"Our mission at Story Studio is to 'Inspire and Educate,' and a core part of that is to share our projects as we go along. We're releasing this project so that you can learn from our work and be inspired to tell your own stories. VR storytelling is a lot of work, but it's not impossible, and our goal is to demystify the process. Have at it," reads a blog post from Oculus Story Studio.