It’s been a tumultuous journey for the virtual reality social platform AltspaceVR, but their fortunes are now looking up after being acquired by Microsoft.
AltspaceVR provides a number of inventive uses on it’s platform, hosting celebrities for concerts, debates and interviews as well as simply offering a place for users to meet and mingle with others in virtual reality.
A number of notable upcoming events can be attended in virtual reality through AltspaceVR, including the Google Event, where Google will unveil their Pixel 2 smartphone, as well as the launch of the SpaceX SES 11 rocket.
The company released a statement on their decision to partner with Microsoft, reassuring their user-base that the fundamental service would still remain the same.
“Microsoft is excited to incorporate communications technology into our mixed reality ecosystem. They’re most interested in preserving the current community that uses AltspaceVR to connect and interact with new and old friends.”
Although AltspaceVR operates on a number of platforms, including HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Google Daydream and Samsung Gear VR, the company said that “there aren’t plans to bring AltspaceVR to Microsoft’s HoloLens” at this time.
The acquisition by Microsoft is just the latest development in a hectic four-year period for the organisation.
After being founded in 2013, the Californian-based company raised over $15 million before officially launching two years later.
They announced at the end of July of this year that they were shutting down due to “unforeseen financial difficulty”, before announcing that they wouldn’t be shutting down after all on August 15th.
