Oculus VR wants developers to start making games for the Samsung Gear VR.
Facebook’s virtual-reality company just unleashed its mobile software-development kit on its website, and you can pick it up now to start building software for mobile VR. While Oculus has made headlines for nearly two years thanks to its powerful Rift headset, it has started heavily pushing the mobile variant in recent months. Samsung Gear VR is essentially a holster that turns the Galaxy Note 4 into the display of a head-mounted device. Samsung just started preselling the Gear VR today for $200 or $250 bundled with a Bluetooth controller.
“The initial version of the Oculus mobile SDK is specifically designed for the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition on Note 4,” reads a blog post on Oculus’s website. “Includes everything you need to get started developing for mobile. We’ve been working on the mobile SDK for over a year in collaboration with Samsung, optimizing the Note 4 tech stack to deliver the first ultra-low latency, mobile virtual reality headset.”
By working with Samsung and developers on the Gear VR, Oculus could jumpstart software support for virtual reality. The Rift is coming “soon,” according to Oculus chief executive Brendan Iribe, and its success will depend greatly on having impressive experiences ready at launch.
Oculus is likely also working with Samsung since the Korean electronics company also provides the displays for the Rift. The Gear VR deal strengthens Oculus’s relationship with Samsung while also providing the Galaxy handset maker with another bulletpoint to sell in its marketing.