pimax portal

pimax-says-its-nintendo-switch-style-vr-hybrid-is-shipping-to-backers-this-month

Pimax Says Its Nintendo Switch-style VR Hybrid is Shipping to Backers This Month

News, Pimax, pimax headsets, pimax portal, pimax vr, portal, Standalone VR Headset / /

Pimax announced that Portal, its hybrid VR headset based on a Nintendo Switch-style console, is almost ready for launch, as the company prepares to ship to all Kickstarter backers in April 2023.

Over the years, the Shanghai-based company has been known for its wide field-of-view (FOV) PC VR headsets which include large, high-resolution displays and wide FOV optics, making Pimax one of the few to offer such devices directly to consumers. With the announcement of Portal and standalone headset Pimax Crystal, the company seems to be striking out in a new direction from its PC VR roots though.

As a hybrid device, Portal works as both a Nintendo Switch-style handheld (running Android), and a Samsung Gear VR-style headset which uses a dedicated VR shell housing and Switch-style controllers, which snap into their own bespoke housing.

While strapping an Android device into a headset shell is decidedly a throwback concept, Portal managed to attract over $350,000 from backers in the device’s 2022 Kickstarter campaign. Putting Gear VR comparisons aside, the device is being couched as a jack of all trades, as it’s set to offer both 6DOF head and controller tracking for VR gameplay on top of acting as both a handheld console and living room entertainment hub.

In a fresh status update, Pimax says it’s now finalized Portal’s hardware, with mass production set to start. Admittedly, Pimax says it’s currently optimizing the software for Portal, with heat dissipation, power consumption, and controller connection marked as areas in need of improvement. This also includes what it calls “rare” tracking issues and SDK-related game porting issues.

By the end of May, Pimax says it will have “more than 20 VR games” available for the Portal VR mode. Furthermore, Pimax says the QLED version of Portal will support native PC VR via HDMI, while other versions will support streaming PC VR content via WiFi e6 and USB-C.

This comes on the heels of the news last month that Pimax had secured a $30 million series C1 financing round, something the company says will aid in the rollout of both Portal and Crystal headsets.

Pimax Says Its Nintendo Switch-style VR Hybrid is Shipping to Backers This Month Read More »

pimax-aims-to-attract-vr-devs-with-100%-revenue-share-&-$100k-game-fund

Pimax Aims to Attract VR Devs with 100% Revenue Share & $100K Game Fund

News, Pimax, pimax 12k, pimax crystal, pimax portal, pimax store / /

Users of Pimax’s wide field-of-view (FOV) PC VR headsets have always relied upon third-party stores like Steam for VR content. Now the company is looking to incentivize VR developers to publish their games on the new Pimax Store.

Pimax quietly launched its PC VR content store in September 2022, ostensibly in preparation for the yet-to-release “Reality 12K QLED” headset, and standalones Pimax Cystal and Pimax Portal hybrid.

At the time, the company kicked off its store by advertising a program that would award its top 50 indie developers with cash incentives, along with a “choose your own” approach to revenue split for those top 50, which would let those developers “determine how much you would like to contribute to the store’s success and what proportion you need for your own success.”

Following a $30 million Series C1 funding round announced earlier this month, the Beijing-based VR headset company has upped the ante by announcing a 100% developer revenue split of Pimax Store content.

For contrast, Valve takes a 30% revenue cut from Steam, while Meta takes 30% from the Quest Store, and 47.5% from content published through its online Horizon Worlds platform.

The company also announced it’s earmarked a $100K fund for the stimulation of VR games, and is giving away 1,000 Pimax Portal dev kits, a standalone hybrid headset which can convert between a Nintendo Switch-style handheld and a 6DOF VR headset.

Image courtesy Pimax

“We’re a hardware manufacturer in the first place, which you could argue Steam and Meta aren’t, so this makes it easier for us to accept a lower margin, but we also want to promote the whole VR market, as technology is advancing fast,” said Pimax’s Carol Yuan. “There should also be more high-quality VR content available. Not only do we think that, but also many users online think this is holding back VR.”

Pimax says its app store caters exclusively to the company’s fleet of headsets, making sure that games support higher FOV and displays resolutions. The Pimax Store also bakes in customization settings for hardware, effectively replacing the company’s Pi Tool.

– – — – –

We’ve reached out to Pimax to find out the duration of the revenue split and, provided it has a definite end point, what its default percentage is. We’ll update this article when/if the company responds.

Pimax Aims to Attract VR Devs with 100% Revenue Share & $100K Game Fund Read More »

pimax-secures-$30m-series-c1-funding-to-expand-&-support-rollout-of-crystal-&-portal-vr-headsets

Pimax Secures $30M Series C1 Funding to Expand & Support Rollout of Crystal & Portal VR Headsets

Investment, News, Pimax, pimax crystal, pimax investment, pimax portal, pimax series c, pimax vr, VR Investment / /

Pimax, the China-based creator known for its wide field of view (FOV) VR headsets, announced it’s secured a $30 million series C1 financing round, something the company says will aid in the rollout of its new portfolio of VR devices.

The series C1 was led by Beijing-based investment firm Tuanmu Capital. This follows the company’s $20 million series B in 2020, bringing the company’s lifetime outside investment to over $69 million.

In a press statement, the company says the funds will be used to accelerate growth of its coming line of VR headsets, Pimax Crystal and Pimax Portal, enhance its position as both a consumer and enterprise-focused company, and increase investment in R&D.

Founded in 2015, Pimax is best known for its first Pimax “8K” headset Kickstarted in 2017, a consumer PC VR headset that included dual 4K panels providing an estimated 200-degree FOV, by far one of the largest in the industry at the time. Even today, many consumer headsets, such as Meta Quest 2 and HTC Vive XR Elite, feature FOVs around 110 degrees.

Pimax Crystal | Photo by Road to VR

The company has since gone on to offer multiple iterations of its wide FOV headset, but also is set to launch both its VR standalone Pimax Crystal and hybrid Portal device, the latter of which can convert between a Nintendo Switch-style gaming handheld and a VR headset.

Both Pimax Crystal and Pimax Portal are expected to release at some point in “early 2023”, with Crystal available for pre-order on the company’s website and Portal still in the fulfillment stage from its successful 2022 Kickstarter, which garnered just over $350,000 from backers.

“Of course, we’re delighted with this new round of funding, as it allows us to boost our production capacity to meet the rapidly growing demand for our new VR products, as well as to improve both our hardware and software further,” said Pimax Founder Robin Weng. “We’ve been innovating VR technology and we will keep on doing that in the future, always pushing the limits of what is possible through technology.”

The Shanghai-based company now boasts over 300 employees in offices spread across offices in San Jose, Stockholm, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Qingdao, and Chengdu.

Pimax Secures $30M Series C1 Funding to Expand & Support Rollout of Crystal & Portal VR Headsets Read More »