GameStop CEO, Paul Raines Sees Huge Attach Rate With PlayStation VR Hardware Sales

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Sony Interactive Entertainment has officially entered the virtual reality fray with the launch of the PlayStation VR, and the company celebrated the release of its VR headset at 1,650 GameStop retail locations, which held midnight launch events across the country.

Paul Raines, CEO of GameStop, told [a]listdaily that there’s been a lot of interest in PSVR from early pre-orders, and that he and several executives attending launch events last night in Dallas, New York City, Miami and California and his teams felt really good about the events. “PSVR is the most exciting thing we’ve seen this year,” Raines said. “It expands video gaming and will help us return to growth.”

Paul Raines
Paul Raines, CEO of GameStop

Raines noted that both PSVR SKUs, the $500 bundle and $400 core edition, have been selling through well. “Our attach rate for PlayStation VR was one of the highest of the year,” he said. “There are a lot of accessories with this device with the Move controllers and the camera, in addition to the games. That’s great for both the new and pre-owned markets.”

Raines said GameStop has seen a significant amount of trade-in promotions. “We’ve been pushing out trade credit to customers over the last two months,” Raines said. “We had one of the top trade days of the year with this launch.”

Since PSVR requires a PS4 console, the dynamic of this new platform launch differs from the traditional introduction of new hardware. Raines said a lot of old next gen games have been traded in, which will help GameStop on sell-through at holiday.

GameStop began demoing PSVR the past few weeks across 1,700 stores, and although the retailer also offers in-store demos for the HTC Vive, they are at fewer locations. “Demos are key for VR,” Raines said. “If you don’t have someone show you the experience, it’s hard to get excited about it.”

Raines said that because of its tight partnership with Sony, GameStop will have the largest allocation of PSVR hardware available across its 4,000 stores—bigger than Amazon, Best Buy and anyone in the market. “Sony has been working on VR for over four years and there are a lot of publishers who have been developing games for PSVR, which is why we’re seeing 50 games in the launch window,” Raines said. “That’s a good way to put your product in the market. Wii U had 10 titles and half were shovelware and not great titles. Sony having 50 games by holiday is exciting stuff.”

Publishers like Ubisoft have invested heavily in VR development across PSVR and other platforms while 2K Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Sega and Electronic Arts have all stepped into VR. “This is a real disruptive moment for publishers, and you really have to be all-in with VR if you’re going to make games for it,” Raines said. “VR requires significant investment, but there’s a lot of potential there.”

Next up for Sony is the November 10 launch of PlayStation 4 Pro, the $400 4K gaming and entertainment device that will give PS4 and PSVR games an upgrade with improved visuals and faster processing power. “It’s too early to tell the demand for PS4 Pro,” Raines said. “We had a ton of early adopters last night line-up for PSVR. Power Up Rewards has two levels. There’s the free option, and then the premium level ‘pro’ folks that have been getting lots of extra benefits. They want the latest tech and will probably be trading in PS4 for PS4 Pro, as well. PS4 is a great device. And people who own PS3s and want to upgrade will want PS4s, so it’s great for everyone.”

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Although GameStop sells HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, Raines believes PSVR will be the clear winner this fall in the virtual reality arena. “We always said the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift are more expensive propositions that require higher-end PCs to run richer experiences,” Raines said. “Sony VR will get most of the market share this year. We think this will be the mass market VR console and device. Sony has a great install base with PS4.”

With regard to the upcoming $200 release of Oculus Touch controllers this December, Raines believes introducing new accessories is always risky. “Sony has struggled for years to get it right with PlayStation Move and Microsoft’s Kinect didn’t have legs with Kinect,” Raines said. “Oculus Touch has great potential, but we have to manage the cost. The sweet spot to get a large install base built is not $1,000.”

psvrRaines is excited about the non-gaming opportunities virtual reality opens up, including everything from sports spectating to the travel industry to education. “VR could be a game-changer in how we live our lives,” Raines said. “You can go to your travel agent and see your cruise ship before stepping on board. We’ve had board members talk about VR in the education space. My kids are seeing lectures by video on laptops today, not too far from now they’ll be able to virtually explore how hydrogen is created through VR.”

The billions of dollars that have been invested in new VR hardware is good for more than just the gaming market. “What’s exciting is the rush to invest in VR,” Gaines said. “We have not seen this much activity in the video game space in quite a while. It’s a real growth industry.”

Raines is bullish on the games industry today, on the heels of Microsoft’s Xbox One S launch, the PSVR release, and next year’s Nintendo NX and Microsoft’s Project Scorpio. “2017 could be a record year for the industry,” Raines said. “People will scoff at the idea, but when you see some of the stuff they’re working on—the innovation between VR and some of the new consoles coming out, the experience will change dramatically. There are a lot of digital properties, and we’re involved in those, but there’s also new physical media that may not be disc-based. These consoles will be significantly impacting the industry.”

Raines wouldn’t confirm that Nintendo NX is cartridge-based like online rumors have stated, but he said there’s “strong innovation” coming from that hardware. He’s meeting with Nintendo next week in Seattle to discuss the NX launch.

GameStop has also invested heavily in the mobile space through its Spring Mobile AT&T stores. VR will be getting a big push from Google in November with the launch of Daydream VR. “Daydream will be good for us,” Raines said. “It has a lot of potential, and we think it will be a big push for mobile gaming.”

Steam Dev Days Markets A Virtual And Connected Future For Gaming

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Steam Dev Days is Valve’s developer convention that takes place in Seattle every two years. The event is for developers only, but those in attendance were quick to share Valve’s vision of the future on social media. One of the biggest announcements was Steam Link, a device that lets you stream Steam games from your PC to your TV, will be built into some of Samsung’s upcoming smart TV models. That’s exciting for consumers, but here’s what Valve is marketing to developers:

Virtual Worlds

In addition to hosting an open VR development platform, Valve is investing in VR companies, particularly Nitero who is responsible for 60GHz wireless transfer technology, according to a live Tweet from the keynote. This partnership could result in a leap for wireless VR headsets. Valve, which built most of the underlying VR tech for the HTC Vive, shared that its online store now has over 600 virtual reality titles and is registering 1,000 new VR users every day, encouraging developers to jump on board.

“Although we’re not going to treat dev days this year as the place or the time to make big product announcements related to the content we have in development at Valve for virtual reality, I do think that once it comes time to do that next year that nobody in this room is going to be disappointed about what we have in the works,” stated Valve’s Greg Coomer in a Periscope video.

More Control

Excited developers got their hands on prototypes for the new Vive controllers, which track hand movements—most notably the ability to partially open or close them, a feature that is incredibly helpful for testing in a virtual reality environment, particularly when gamers want to handle everything they see.

PC gamers will soon be able to use a PS4 controller natively in Steam, thanks to an update that will allow full configuration. “This means that players can pair their PS4 controller directly to their PC and use all the configurability options available to the Steam Controller, including use of the PS4 touchpad and gyro,” said Lars Doucet, developer of Defender’s Quest in a presentation for enhanced controller support.

Developers were also shown a radically-redesigned Steam Controller along with confirmation of Steam Machine exclusives, although the company is encouraging third-party Steam controller manufacturing.

Valve also discussed an improved Lighthouse base station for increased accuracy. The tracking system allows devices outfitted with sensors to connect to Valve’s base stations receivers and then show up as tracked objects in the virtual world. Valve wants the Lighthouse standard to be as “ubiquitous as WiFi,” and is thus open-licensing the tech to any dev that wants to check it out. As of now, the company says they have 300 hardware partners building Lighthouse-tracked devices.

Overall, Valve pushed the importance of new technology, player experiences and localization—particularly to the growing Asian demographic. By remaining an open source development platform, Valve hopes that Steam will attract more diversity and accessibility to developers than the Oculus Rift.

Newzoo: American Millennials Watch As Much ESports As Baseball

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How do traditional sports demographics compare to those of eSports? American male millennials watch as much competitive eSports as they do baseball and more than ice hockey, according to a new report by Newzoo.

Seventy-six percent of eSports enthusiasts surveyed say that their eSports viewership is taking away hours they used to spend on traditional sports like football or baseball. While some may argue that video games can’t be a “real” sport, the traditional athletic industry isn’t so quick to dismiss the potential of cross over fandom.

Based on eSports consumer insights research in 27 countries, Newzoo’s latest report offers a comparison of eSports fans with those of the four big American sports. For example, there are six million eSports fans in the US who do not watch baseball, hockey, basketball or football at all, but basketball clubs, in particular, have tremendous potential to attract these fans by investing in eSports.

Of the 80 million American basketball fans, 9.6 million are also into eSports. American sports clubs, owners and celebrities are adopting eSports and thus appealing to a wider audience.

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“The huge interest in eSports from sports celebrities, clubs, media companies, and brands alike illustrate how games are leading the media and entertainment business towards a new future that has more in common with games than not,” said Pieter van de Heuvel, head of eSports at Newzoo, in a statement. “Games bring innovation in tech and consumer business models, and have a unique ability to engage with and actively involve the younger generations. Traditional and digital media and sports companies bring experience in providing advertisers with an effective communication platform. There clearly is a natural, strategic and commercial fit.”

For marketers, creating a genuine brand relationship with millennials is often difficult and confusing. (Turns out that simply calling your brand “bae” doesn’t work.) Newzoo reminds brands in the report that the millennial audience between the ages of 21 and 35, and the generation following, have a completely different media consumption profile than older consumers.

“Games and eSports give them the active engagement they desire and thrills they do not find in other entertainment,” the company said.

Video game enthusiasts are early adopters of new technology and tend to spend more on digital entertainment. ESports fans take it to the next level of spending, with 52 percent of US eSports fans having a HBO subscription versus 29 percent of the general online population. Similarly, 42 percent of eSports enthusiasts own an iPhone compared to 38 percent of the general population.

“Gaming is what every traditional sports league is desperate to become: young, global, digital, and increasingly diverse,” ESPN The Magazine previously said in its special eSports issue.

Interestingly, Newzoo’s report indicates that eSports fans enjoy competition across multiple platforms, even mobile. While eSports normally refers to games like League of Legends or CS: GO, 39 percent of eSports fans surveyed said that they played Clash Royale in the previous three months, compared to just 17 percent of the general gaming population.

When you look at the crossover between millennials and the overall brand loyalty of eSports fans, it’s no wonder traditional brands are investing. eSports revenues generated through merchandise, ticketing, media rights, advertising, and sponsorships have already raked in around half a billion dollars this year.

If eSports revenues per fan were similar to the NBA, Newzoo notes, it would easily be a $2.5 billion business today.

A+E Picks Up New President; NHL Has New VP And CMO

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Here are some of the top personnel moves in marketing over the last week.

Heidi Browning Becomes NHL Executive VP And CMO

To help further promote the growth of the National Hockey League, Heidi Browning has been named executive vice president and chief marketing officer of the NHL. Browning joins the league after leading digital marketing strategies for companies such as Fox Interactive Media, Universal McCann and (most recently) Pandora. In her role, Browning will focus on digital and social initiatives and developments, be responsible for executing the League’s marketing campaigns, and incorporate new marketing technologies to promote the NHL and broaden the reach of both its traditional and digital channels.

Gabe Spitzer Joins FOX Sports

Gabe Spitzer has been named to the role of executive producer, original programming and branded content at FOX Sports. According to the announcement, Spitzer will oversee “current original programming as well as the development, acquisition and execution of short and long form documentary content. He is also the liaison between filmmakers and FOX Sports league partners, working across departments and platforms to maximize assets.” Spitzer has won multiple Emmy Awards as a director and producer, working on projects for HBO, NBC, FOX and ESPN.

Fox TV Group Appoints Robert Barron CFO

In a continuing effort to consolidate operations within the combined network-studio group, Robert Barron has been promoted to EVP and chief financial officer for Fox Television Group. There, he will manage the finance and accounting operations for all FTG divisions.

Philippe Le Floc’h Appointed FIFA Chief Commercial Officer

Philippe Le Floc’h has been appointed as FIFA’s new chief commercial officer as part of the organizations ongoing restructuring of its administration. As stated in the announcement, Le Floc’h will “oversee all commercial activities, heading up both the Marketing and TV sub-divisions and helping drive the organization’s commercial performance.”

Paul Buccieri Becomes President Of A+E Studios

A&E and History president, Paul Buccieri has been promoted to president of A+E Studios & A+E Networks portfolio group. Buccieri became president of A&E and History in 2014, and in his new role, he will be in charge of all of the business aspects for the A+E brand portfolio. The portfolio includes A&E, History, Lifetime, FYI and LMN.

Dennis Camlek Joins National Geographic As EVP

National Geographic Global Networks has hired Dennis Camlek as its executive vice president for strategy and consumer marketing. Prior to Nat Geo, Camlek was senior vice president in strategic media planning, investment and placement at Turner Media Group. In his new role, Camlek will oversee programming-specific marketing efforts in the United States, in addition to working with the network’s marketing heads in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Bayshore Networks Appoints Kirby Wadsworth As Chief Marketing Officer

Cybersecurity firm, Bayshore Networks, has appointed Kirby Wadsworth in the newly created role of chief marketing officer. Wadsworth’s previous position was as vice president of global marketing for F5 Networks, Inc. At Bayshore Networks, he will be responsible for all marketing activities, including brand development, demand generation, product marketing and corporate communications.

Pinterest Picks Todd Morgenfeld As New CFO

Pinterest has hired its very first chief financial officer, Todd Morgenfeld, who previously served as Twitter’s vice president of finance. Morgenfeld adds his expertise and experience as Pinterest expands its advertising and e-commerce tools.

The Weather Company Names Jordan Bitterman As Chief Marketing Officer

Jordan Bitterman joins the Weather Company as its CMO and will oversee all of the company’s marketing teams. He was previously the chief strategy officer for North America at the media and marketing service firm, Mindshare.

Bela Bajaria Joins Netflix As VP Of Content

Formerly an NBCUniversal chief, Bela Bajaria, has become Netflix’s vice president of content. In this role, Bajaria will lead the company’s television- and film-licensing efforts in addition to co-productions with US Networks. Other responsibilities include developing unscripted programming for Netflix. While working at NBCUniversal, Bajaria sold three series to Netflix including The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Master of None and upcoming Gypsy.

Brendan Countee Moves From Hulu To Showtime

Showtime Networks has hired Brenden Countee as its VP of original programming. Countee comes from Hulu, where he was the head of comedies and oversaw the development and production of streaming shows including Casual, The Mindy Project, Difficult People, the upcoming Future Man.

Have a new hire tip? Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.

Drifting Cars And Jeeps On Buildings: This Week’s Top Game Promotions

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While a whole slew of games are primed to launch this week, particularly on the PlayStation VR (PSVR), the biggest, baddest promotions go to these two AAA titles. From dangling a Jeep Wrangler from the top of a building to burning rubber in its very own drift car, these are the top game releases and promotions for the week of October 10.

Gears of War 4

Microsoft is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of its hit Gears of War franchise by ushering in a new era and telling gamers, “Never fight alone.” This slogan not only applies to the game’s story, but encourages multiplayer action, especially the Gears of War Pro Circuit eSports program. In addition to the usual Day One perks like gold-colored weapons and exclusive, playable characters, those who ordered the Ultimate Edition were able to begin playing the game four days before everyone else. Microsoft has maintained a strong convention presence since the game’s announcement during E3 with hands-on demos, panels and even collectible cards that unlock exclusive items in-game. The collectible cards even come with their own dedicated mobile app to help manage and collect them all. Gears of War 4 is the first Play Anywhere title for Xbox One and featured as the first Xbox One S themed bundle, making this iconic franchise the face of Microsoft’s new console campaigns.

Microsoft certainly doesn’t “fight alone,” especially when it comes to marketing. A movie is currently in development at Universal Studios, with Scott Stuber (Ted, Central Intelligence) and Dylan Clark (Planet of the Apes) attached as producers. As it has done in previous years, UFC 204 is sponsored by Gears of War 4 and Conan O’Brien tried his hand at the game for a Clueless Gamer sketch. An art exhibit was held in California for a special, 2-day event featuring concept art,original art pieces, life-sized replicas of armor and a debut of the game’s original soundtrack by Grammy-and-Emmy-award-winning composer, Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones, Pacific Rim). A Formula Drift car, driven by Matt Field was featured in the championship race on October 8. Other notable partnerships include a special edition of the HyperX CloudX Revolver gaming headphones, collectible figures by Funko Pop!, PlayArts KAI and McFarlane Toys, life-size lancer rifles from PDP and a special concept art book with Dark Horse. A special partnership with clothing brand, Undefeated resulted in an exclusive line of Gears-themed goods set to appear in a pop-up store in Los Angeles on October 11.

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The launch itself has been accompanied by many, many livestreams that include developers and influencers alike, giveaways and special announcements (such as the film adaptation). The frontline marketing continued by creating a showcase of fan tattoos for Gears of War, which helped cement an emotional bond for the franchise, and fans are able to vote on new armor that will become free DLC. On Twitter, the #GearsOfWar4 hashtag comes with a sponsored emoji of COG soldier, gear-shaped dog tags to get players psyched for combat. As if the gameplay wasn’t amped enough, gamers can help keep the marathon going with specially-designed cans of Rockstar energy drinks. Anyone who purchases Gears of War 4 for Xbox One by December 31, 2016 will receive digital download tokens to obtain a free copy of Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3 and Gears of War: Judgment backward-compatible for the Xbox One.

Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration

Square Enix, meanwhile, is celebrating 20 years of Tomb Raider in a big way with a scavenger hunt, concert series and a ton of in-game bonuses. As the most iconic female video game character of all time, Lara Croft represents adventure and a whole lot of memories for gamers everywhere. Tapping into this nostalgia, while keeping Lara relevant is key to Square Enix’s marketing strategy. Those who pre-ordered the game, for example, can play Lara with a number of classic character models to bring back all those gaming feels. Bringing Lara into the future, meanwhile, involves PlayStation VR with a special, stand-alone experience called Blood Ties—allowing players to explore and interact with Lara’s manor in a whole new way.

“With the 20 Year Celebration, we wanted to bring Lara’s Manor into the modern timeline,” Chris Johnson, associate brand manager at Crystal Dynamics told [a]listdaily at NYCC. “When players first got the cinematic experience of Lara in her childhood home, fans went totally nuts. Now is the perfect time to bring this to life.” Another DLC pits Lara Croft against zombies in Lara’s Nightmare, although not in VR. During the New York Comic-Con, Square Enix unveiled a special collaboration with Player Piano—a beautiful medley of Tomb Raider music from across the decades.

Speaking of conventions, Lara Croft remains one of the most popular cosplay choices every year, so Square Enix came up with a fun excuse to pull out the costumes. During Paris Games Week on October 29, Square Enix is attempting a Guinness World Record for “The Most People Dressed as Lara Croft” in one place, offering prizes and other incentives for fans to join in. In the spirit of adventure (and for those who prefer to drive rather than rock climb and flip around their real-world environments), fans can enter to win “Prize of the Tomb Raider,” a 2016 Jeep Wrangler. Those in New York for the big comic convention could even witness a real Jeep Wrangler hanging from a building! To further celebrate the adventures you’ll have, Square Enix teamed up with comic book artist, Andy Park to create exclusive art and an in-game outfit called “Woman Vs. Wild.”

Much like Gears of War 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider also features collectible in-game cards that unlock modifiers and game-modes for enhanced playing experiences. Those who play during the first week of the game’s launch will receive 10,000 in-game credits to spend on these cards.

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How Coke Is Rewarding ESports Fans With A Maingear Gaming PC

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Coca-Cola has been at the forefront of connecting with eSports fans, having worked with Riot Games on its League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) since 2013. The brand has done everything from help launch an amateur league to hosting thousands of fans in movie theaters around the globe to watch the League of Legends world championship game.

With the big game returning to the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Oct. 29, Matt Wolf, vice president of entertainment at Coca-Cola, said the company is celebrating eSports and the community of fans at the League of Legends World Finals Cinema with viewing parties across the US.

As part of this activation, Coke has enlisted Maingear to build a “1ofONE” Coke ESports custom gaming PC. Wolf said fans will have an opportunity to win this gaming machine by attending one of the cinema viewing parties.

“We believe that ice-cold Coca-Cola is the perfect refreshment for gamers and this custom experiment was the brain child of our eSports team in partnership with our friends at Maingear and our colleagues in Coca-Cola Design,” Wolf said. “It’s an innovative and fun play off the basic PC that our gamers know so well.”

Wallace Santos, CEO and founder of MAINGEAR, said Coca-Cola has been using its Coke Esports division to make a big push to support the growing eSports scene.

“They decided that they wanted to do something huge and out of the ordinary by creating a totally unique, one-of-a-kind PC gaming system,” Santos said. “Similar to Maingear’s recent partnerships with Razer and HP, Coke chose Maingear because we simply build the best PCs in the industry. At the same time, we were in the planning staging for what would become our 1ofONE initiative—a program to bring 100 percent fully custom, heavily modded PCs to market on a level never done before by a PC manufacturer.”

Santos said Coke trusted Maingear with the freedom to use its own expertise in system design and water-cooling to create this gaming PC.

“Maingear developed the necessary chassis modifications and intricate cooling system in our workshop, while working with Coke’s in-house creative team on the custom luxury automotive paint finish on the exterior,” Santos said.

The PC boasts an Intel i7-6950X 10-Core CPU, dual NVIDIA GTX 1080 graphics cards, a  HyperX Fury 16GB DDR4-2666 and a Samsung 950 Pro 512GB M.2 NVMe. But the focal point of this unique rig is a real 500 milliliter Coke bottle for the centerpiece of the build.

Santos said the bottle was modified to serve as the coolant reservoir for the water-cooling system. As an added detail, Maingear was able to color match its in house blended coolant mixture to perfectly match the color of Coca-Cola.

“With Coke’s global reach, rabid fan base and commitment to support eSports, this collaboration is a natural fit, and will bring Maingear to entirely new audiences that had no idea the level of quality and degree of customization that is within reach to them,” Santos said.

Wolf said Coke is thrilled with the overwhelming positive response the announcement of the PC has generated across social media.

“This PC is a nod to our biggest fans,” Wolf said.

It’s also something that will stand alone in the eSports realm.

“We don’t have plans at this point to produce additional machines,” Wolf said.

Santos said this is the latest eSports activation for the company.

“Maingear has supported eSports for years, and has been the system of choice for countless eSports athletes,” Santos said. “In addition, Maingear systems have powered some of the biggest Esports tournaments, including last year’s Dota International, where the tournament was run entirely on Maingear X-Cube systems.”

Everything Marketers Must Know About Oculus Connect 3

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The Thursday keynote for Oculus Connect 2016 offered new insight into the Touch, what kind of games we can expect to play VR, and even some new headphones.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off a a three-person chat in VR that sent them to Mars, under the sea and even into Mark’s home to check on the dog. By supporting the VR ecosystem it helped jumpstart, Oculus hopes to create a thriving world of endless, virtual possibilities in gaming and beyond.

Reach Out And Touch A Release Date

The Oculus Touch controller finally received a launch date of December 6 and will be priced at $199. Pre-orders for the Touch open on October 10 separately or bundled with games, VR Sports Challenge and The Unspoken. Both titles will support room-scale virtual reality experiences.

Oculus Does The Timewarp

New “Asynchronous Timewarp” and “Asynchronous Spacewarp” features aim to reduce judder and keep Rift frame rate at 90 frames per second, which Oculus feels is the minimum needed for good VR. As a result of Timewarp features, new minimum PC specs have been announced, allowing Rift to work on PCs as affordable as $499.

Bring On The Video Games

Three new Touch compatible titles were announced alongside the December release date, all clearly designed to make the most of the new controller interface. The first title is Arktika.1 from 4A Games, a sci-fi adventure in which players fight off bandits in “Old Russia” during a post-apocalyptic ice age.

Lone Echo from Ready At Dawn solves the problem of accidentally walking into a wall with your Oculus headset on by turning off the gravity. Lone Echo casts the player as Jack, an artificially intelligent robot who helps astronauts run and maintain a space station that orbits Saturn. Rather than walk, the player must use their hands to climb and pull their way around the station.

Robo Recall is the first full-VR game from Epic Games, pitting players against rogue robots. The free title, which launches in 2017, features a series of increasingly challenging missions with leaderboard support via the Oculus SDK, as well as a sandbox mode for players to hone their robot destruction skills.

Oculus also announced that there will be at least 35 new VR game titles upon launch of the Touch. The company further revealed a collaboration with Walt Disney Studios to create VR experiences with some of Disney’s “most beloved characters” to be released later this year.

VR Chat Takes You Anywhere

oculus-chatStrapping on a VR headset and headphones is designed to isolate a user for full immersion, but that doesn’t mean you have to be lonely. During the keynote, Zuckerberg showed off a number of impressive features for VR chat in Oculus Rift—all connected to Facebook, of course. Zuckerberg demonstrated a three-person chat complete with real-time avatars, locations like under the sea or the surface of Mars and how everything ties together. For example, all three chat participants were able to use the Touch controller to play games or even draw interactive objects on the fly. Zuckerberg was able to take a call from Facebook messenger and even snap a “modern family selfie” within the platform, which he promptly posted to Facebook. The new VR chat system will support up to eight people at a time.

Listening in VR

Oculus’ newly announced earphones will have drivers optimized for VR. The company claims they’ll sound as good as $900 earphones and will available later this year for $49. To help fuel competition, the CAD and audio guidelines for the headset connector will be made available for anyone to make audio accessories for the Rift.

Building And Supporting The VR Ecosystem

Speaking of competition, VR will not be able to survive without a self-sustaining ecosystem. In its recent predictions about the future VR market, SuperData said: “Critical during this initial adoption phase will be the ability to establish a rich ecosystem of content providers that in turn will bear the fruit of VR and deliver on its promise.”

Oculus wants the world to be aware of its financial commitment to the VR ecosystem, committing $10 million to diversity programs and $250 million to VR game development.

To assist budding developers, Oculus will cover royalty fees for all Unreal Engine titles shipping on the Oculus Store, up to the first $5 million of gross revenue per game.

Jon Favreau Makes First Foray Into Virtual Reality With ‘Gnomes & Goblins’

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Gnomes & Goblins is a virtual reality original production that infuses an explorative experience with room-scale technology to immerse users in an enchanted fantasy world shaped from the imagination of Jon Favreau, the actor and filmmaker of Iron Man, The Jungle Book and Swingers fame.

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Jon Favreau

In the native experience created by VR content studio Wevr—which is neither a game nor film—users will meet and develop a personal relationship with an enigmatic character of Favreau’s interactive fantasy and begin discovering its many realms and denizens in a magical world.

“This project was one where I felt like there had to be a lot of room for exploration,” said Favreau. “It wasn’t one where I wanted to know where we were going when we started. And so I wanted to work with a smaller company that had more of a lab feel rather than feeling like I was creating content for an established goal. You’re only as good as the people you are collaborating with and the whole team, although small, is a group of people that share a singular vision and a commitment to breaking new ground and trying to discover things. The appeal is to have somebody who is not a gamer and never had a VR experience, be able to enjoy without feeling that they need to have a certain skill set, but we also don’t want it to be passive cinematic experience where people just sit and enjoy it like a ride. It needs to be something where you engage in the way that you would in life. It should feel like you’re developing a relationship with these characters.”

Favreau said that presence was the most interesting phenomenon when he experienced VR for the first time. He called it “lucid dreaming” because people know what they’ll be seeing is artificial, yet, their brain fools them into believing it’s real. Favreau said he referred to the Turing Test to see if an entirely artificial environment can make people feel a sense of human connection. Gnomes & Goblins effectively presents a new entertainment paradigm.

Although it was the 49-year-old Favreau’s first foray into VR, he was not the guy behind the guy as he once was back in the day in Swingers. But he did work with a team of VR pros for the project, co-produced and co-published by Wevr, who earlier this year procured $25 million to become the YouTube of VR.

Neville Spiteri, co-founder and CEO of Wevr, who previous to that served as producer and senior development director at Electronic Arts, joined [a]listdaily to further detail how Favreau and company brought Gnomes & Goblins to life.

Why was the collaboration with Jon Favreau a good fit for the Wevr company profile? How did the project start?

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Wevr is a VR studio creating high-quality experiences that are native to the VR medium. We’re exploring and pioneering interactive storytelling in VR. It was clear from the beginning that Jon’s storytelling sensibilities and curiosity to explore the VR medium couldn’t be a better fit for Wevr. Wevr animation director Andy Jones was working on the film The Jungle Book with Jon, and he brought him to Wevr’s office to check out our newest VR piece, theBlu: Whale Encounter. Jon was quite taken by theBlu and how it offered that sense of immersion and scale when coming face to face with the whale, and began thinking of how he could create characters and worlds and tell stories in VR. We started talking about his visions and quickly rolled into developing ideas. I brought on Jake Rowell, director of theBlu, as creative director for the project, and working with Jon and Jake and Andy Jones and the team . . . and Gnomes & Goblins came to life.

How do you explain what the immersive experience really is like?

Gnomes & Goblins is neither a film nor a game—it’s an interactive VR experience, and the outcome hinges on how the user interacts with the characters and environment. The user isn’t simply a passive onlooker but rather an active participant that plays a role in how the experience progresses. Jon describes it as ‘lucid dreaming.’ Players are able to actually relate to the goblin character and see his emotions through his facial expressions and body language. The story is about you and the goblin. In this sense you’re an actor in the experience, and are central to the plot. Following Jon’s vision, we took the elements of agency from game design and married them with the narrative best-practices from filmmaking, and I think, together we’re onto something quite special with Gnomes & Goblins. It’s clear from the user feedback, that people are enjoying themselves and feeling the emotional connection.

Previews for Gnomes & Goblins are available on Steam and Viveport, and then, on Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR later in the year. How are you currently connecting with consumers? And what is their reaction after experiencing it?

We’re getting great consumer feedback. The positive reviews have been fantastic. From YouTube gaming influencers to users commenting on reddit and the reviews on Steam, it’s clear that the public is excited about Gnomes & Goblins. We constantly show the product and carefully watch people’s emotional reactions moment to moment. Our goal was to release a preview as a first ‘tasting spoon’ to engage the community early on in our development, to listen, get feedback, learn from it, and shape the experience based on that.

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Why did you specifically go for room-scale VR?

Room-scale allows you to move around a space and interact with your surroundings and use your hands to pick up and touch items in the VR world, which leads to a stronger sense of immersion and presence. It was clear to Jon from the get-go that in order to give you that sense of immersion and connection with the characters and the world you need to be able to move around and explore, and literally approach the characters and see how they respond. Jake designed a space in which you’re invited to explore and interact in order to achieve the sense of immersion and presence that makes this experience feel like you’re really transported to a fantasy world. You can really deliver that feeling with room-scale.

How big is your vision for Gnomes & Goblins? What do you want for it to become?

Jon has a big wonderful vision for the full world of Gnomes & Goblins. We’re now gathering feedback and engaging the community. We have the underpinnings in place to introduce more characters, expand the goblin world and the gnome world, add more plot lines and activities for the user to engage in. It will evolve more like a game with expanded versions, and the goal is for this to become a persistent universe that grows over time. Wevr has partnered with RealityOne to coproduce the full version of the experience. Jon and the whole team is excited to be building out what’s next.

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How important is it to have a Hollywood filmmaker’s mind like Jon involved for VR projects to have critical acclaim? What are some things he saw from a storytelling standpoint that other creators normally don’t?

It’s very important. In this case, Jon’s incredible talent and curiosity pushes the project and the medium forward. What’s really interesting about collaborating with Jon is that despite his established expertise as a moviemaker, he quickly saw what’s different about VR as a real-time interactive medium and was willing to experiment and take a fresh approach and mind-set to shape ‘how the story is told’ in VR.

What is the most difficult part about being a VR startup? How are you measuring success of previous projects?

One of the biggest challenges of being a VR startup is that even though VR is ‘hot’ and will undoubtedly grow into a massive market, it’s still in the early days. So you have to pick and choose carefully where you invest energy in terms of time and money. At Wevr we’re deeply passionate about the medium and are fanatical about crafting experiences that people absolutely love. We’re measuring our success by the caliber of work we put out, and by how the rapidly growing VR community responds.

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How would you describe the current consumer appetite for VR content? What kind of an experience works best for the platform?

Consumers are hungry for VR content—a wide variety of content categories. I would say easily that more people want to consume VR content today than actually own a VR headset. There’s passive 360-degree video, cinematic experiences like theBlu, and fully interactive games—across many genres like music, drama, comedy, horror and sci-fi. We developed a meditation simulation with [author] Deepak Chopra where the user is intentionally invited to be still and calm which works really well in VR. We collaborated with [animator] Tyler Hurd who created “Old Friend,” an interactive music video in which you can’t help yourself from dancing, and that worked really well. The 10-episode drama narrative series Gone that we developed with Skybound and Samsung is a totally different format and that works great, too. Turns out VR is pretty powerful for all kinds of experiences. I personally find that experiences that provide some degree of agency while also incorporating story can really shine in VR. Gnomes & Goblins is an example of this.

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Neville Spiteri, co-founder and CEO of Wevr

What is currently the biggest challenge for marketing VR?

You can’t explain VR to someone who hasn’t experienced it. Not really. The biggest challenge in marketing VR today is describing the medium to the uninitiated—people really need to try it for themselves to truly get it. As VR continues to get press, and developers and studios release innovative and entertaining pieces that become more widely available, more people will get to experience VR for themselves which is what it’s all about. Accessibility is key. This is why we’re developing the Wevr Transport network to showcase VR content and market it in-and-outside of a headset, and provide a unified distribution network for mobile devices, in-home PCs/consoles, and to venues and experience centers throughout cities around the world. We’re addressing the challenge by enabling people who don’t have a VR headset to experience VR.

What’s next for Wevr plan on continuing to expand capability in the space?

On the network side of the business we launched the Transport VR network to showcase premium quality VR content. Transport is in public beta on GearVR and Vive, and next up is Daydream and Oculus Rift. It’s really working. We’re now extending Wevr Transport to distribute content to venues in neighborhoods and cities around the world. It’s all about making great VR and taking it to the people. On the studio side of the business we had four titles accepted at Sundance this year and have 11 nominations at the upcoming Proto Awards. We want to continue to experiment, and learn, and push for high-quality experiences and collaborate with the greatest storytellers of our time to make killer VR content. In addition to creating more Wevr originals, we’re actively investing in the growing community of VR creatives.

Follow Manouk Akopyan on Twitter @Manouk_Akopyan

Carnival Rocks The Boat With New VR Experiences And TV Shows

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When it comes to marketing strategies, Carnival Cruise Line is plowing full steam ahead with a diverse set of campaigns to appeal to a wider market, offering consumers a “brand new view” the next time they decide to get away from it all. The average cruise guest is now 40-years-old, which is challenging the cruise line to attract younger demographics with the adoption of new technologies.

All Aboard To Experience “The Vista Affect”

Carnival Cruise Line is launching a 360-degree video campaign to promote a number of features on its new Carnival Vista ship. Hosted by Instagram influencer Zach King, the video takes viewers on a unique tour around the new cruise liner that not only lets you look around, but participate via Easter egg hunts. The video also includes special effects and optical illusions to add to the magic of what a vacation might be aboard.

The Vista tour highlights such attractions as SkyRide, an 800-foot long duel-track aerial ride suspended 150-feet in the air and Kaleid-O-Slide, a 455-foot water tube connected to the ship’s WaterWorks park. The Vista Affect was shot aboard the ship as it toured the Mediterranean Sea and made seven stops around Greece, Italy and Malta.

The Vista Affect 360 video is viewable on Facebook, YouTube and AwayWeGo.com. By having the video hosted by an influencer, Carnival will be able to reach King’s followers on a more personal level than on an ad or video promotion alone.

Vacations In Virtual Reality

In a partnership with AT&T, Carnival is taking the virtual tour to a new level through a Samsung Gear VR headset. Available in 133 AT&T stores across 37 states, curious would-be vacationers started stepping aboard in an immersive tour of Carnival Cruise ships in February to preview entertainment, dining and shore excursion options, not to mention the aforementioned rides and on board attractions. Those who check out the VR experience can enter to win a cruise through a special sweepstakes.

“One of the barriers to getting folks on cruises are common misconceptions about cruises, and if we’re able to expose more and more consumers to what our ships and the experiences are actually like, we hope to be able to increase the demand for cruising overall,” Ken Jones, vice president of corporate marketing at Carnival told Fortune. “Cruising has grown faster than land-based vacations over the past decade or so, and we think technology can help accelerate that trend as we help people envision themselves in an amazing cruise environment.”

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Cruising To A TV Near You

Three new Carnival TV programs on three different networks are now airing Saturday mornings that aim to educate and inspire viewers to explore the world via cruise liner. Ocean Treks With Jeff Corwin will run on ABC and feature Corwin as he ventures out across the world to experience activities such as repelling down cliffs, mountain climbing and zip lining through a rain forest.

CW’s Vacation Creation stars In Living Color alum Tommy Davidson with YouTube star Andrea Feczko. The show will teach viewers how to personalize vacations while enduring hardship.

The Voyager with Josh Garcia, airing on NBC will follow video journalist, Garcia as he visits seaside ports interacting and mingling with locals. All shows will run through September 2017. and will feature all 10 of Carnival’s cruise brands in at least one episode each.

Split Screen Elegance

Carnival’s ultra-luxury Seabourn Cruise Line is the focus of “Extraordinary Worlds,” a split-screen ad that features complementary images on opposite sides of the screen. While one side displays Seabourn’s on-board amendities, the other highlights exotic cruising destinations such as New Zealand and Iceland.

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It’s All Fun And Games Until You “Rock” The Boat

Carnival Cruise Line has made some serious partnerships in the name of entertaining its guests. Select cruises now feature Hasbro, The Game Show, a live audience experience that’s included in the price of a vacation. Harnessing the growing popularity of tabletop games with the thrill of a live event, families and friends can team up to compete for prizes with games such as Connect 4, Sorry! Sliders and Yahtzee Bowling, just to name a few.

If all you wanna do is “rock the boat,” cruise guests will also be able to compete in Lip Sync Carnival Battle. The TV show’s hosts, L.L. Cool J and Chrissy Teigen, appear in a special video shown on board, and just as on the show, the cruise audience chooses the contest winner. Lip Sync Battle Carnival will debut on the new Carnival Vista in December and roll out to other Carnival ships in 2017.

Speaking of “rocking” the boat, if country or comedy are more your cruising speed, Carnival has announced that Tim McGraw and Little Big Town, along with comedians Jay Leno and Jeff Foxworthy, will perform on seven different ships as part of the 2017 Carnival LIVE line-up.

No Nautical Nonsense

Personal experiences create brand loyalty, and influencers who share stories with others on social media. By including the audience into the experience, Carnival is using a series of splendid marketing tactics to create memories that can be shared with friends and family once vacationers return home.

Netflix Gifts ‘Gilmore Girls’ Fans By Turning Cafés Into Luke’s Diners

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Netflix is celebrating the sixteenth anniversary of Gilmore Girls as it gears up for a special, four-part event called Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life debuting November 25. Anyone who’s watched the show knows that coffee is pretty much the meaning of life, and java lovers had one heck of a “Gilmore time” on Wednesday morning with the sudden pop-up of Luke’s signs around 200 local coffee shops.

From 7 a.m. until noon, fans enjoyed a little piece of Stars Hollow with a free cup of coffee served in a special Luke’s cup. Under the sleeve was a quote from the show about, you guessed it—coffee—and a few came with a code to enjoy three free months of Netflix for non-subscribers so they can binge watch the show before the new episodes air next month.

Baristas even donned plaid shirts and wore their hats backward as an homage to Luke, the fictional diner’s owner, alongside a cutout of the character holding a firm set of ground rules. Another nearby sign from Netflix encouraged fans to break the cell phone rule and post pictures of their special Luke’s coffee in anticipation of the anniversary special. A number of characters also started popping up on the official Gilmore Girls Instagram account, such as Rose “Gypsy” Abdoo and Grant-Lee “Town Troubadour” Phillips—although the infamous Lorelai and Rori had not made an appearance the last time we checked.

To fully get viewers in the mood for fall in Stars Hollow, a website has appeared with information about the show’s locations as well as the town’s history. There’s even an email address that can be used to ask Luke life advice which we, of course, have taken advantage of. (Response pending!)

For those who witnessed the Luke’s pop-up activation this morning, many will be inspired to re-watch the show or check it out for the first time, a great way to build excitement and start conversations about Netflix’s forthcoming show.

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