VR Event

NBA Deepens Multiyear Partnership with Meta, Bringing More Ways to Watch Live Games on Quest

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Meta announced they’re extending a multiyear partnership which is set to bring a few new ways for basketball fans to enjoy NBA League Pass games on Quest.

First signed in 2020, the deal essentially made Meta (ex-Facebook) an official marketing and VR headset partner of the NBA, Women’s NBA (WNBA) and NBA G League.

Now, with the extension, the companies are set to bring a new space to Meta’s Horizon Worlds platform called the ‘NBA Arena’, which will play host to live NBA League Pass games in VR throughout the season.

The new NBA Arena space promises to serve up 52 live NBA games in addition to five games captured in 180-degree monoscopic (2,880 resolution) specifically captured for VR users. In addition to shared viewing, the new NBA Arena also includes mini-games.

The companies announced that NBA League Pass access is also coming to Xtadium in the coming weeks, a US-only VR sports hub app that also offers shared watching.

At some point Meta is also set to roll out NBA-licensed apparel in its Avatar Store so fans can support their favorite NBA or WNBA teams. Avatar apparel also spans avatars on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger in addition to Horizon Worlds.

Here’s a look at the preliminary game schedule for the NBA Arena:

Jan. 24: Denver Nuggets vs. New Orleans Pelicans – 8 p.m. ET
Jan. 25: Denver Nuggets vs. Milwaukee Bucks – 8 p.m. ET
Jan. 27: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder – 8 p.m. ET
Jan. 29: LA Clippers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers – 7 p.m. ET
Jan. 31: Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavaliers – 7 p.m. ET

Check out all of the VR-accessible NBA games up to April 9th here.

Virtual Event Platform ‘Wave’ Returns to VR with Pico Partnership, Calvin Harris Concert to Debut Jan 13th

calvin harris, News, pico, pico 4, pico neo 3, pico vr, pico xr, the wave, virtual concert, vr concert, VR Event, wave, wavexr / Ryan Harris / January 5, 2023

Wave, the virtual entertainment company known for putting on a ton of VR concerts a few years back, actually deprecated VR support for its app back in early 2021 to focus on streaming its brand of digital concerts to traditional platforms. Now, through a new partnership with VR headset creator Pico, Wave is set to jump back into VR with more concerts, available exclusively on Pico devices.

Through the partnership, Wave says it’s developing “a series of immersive 3D concert experiences with massively world-renowned artists” for Pico’s line of consumer headsets. Those include Pico Neo 3 and the new Pico 4 headset.

Its debut concert is set to feature The Calvin Harris Experience, taking place on January 13th at 8: 00PM GMT (local time here). The experience is said to last approximately 1 hour, which includes a five-minute preshow and 25 min exclusive extended set.

Only fans in Europe and Asia will have access, the company says, the only markets where Pico’s consumer headsets are currently available. The VR-accessible concert is said to be an “extended version,” of which only a portion will be broadcasted on TikTok LIVE.

The concert is slated to take fans on what Wave calls “a musical journey through Calvin’s virtual universe, a metaverse party filled with audio reactive visuals in a nature inspired luminous world.”

Calvin Harris is set to perform live as a virtual avatar in an immersive environment that Pico users can join and explore for themselves. Users will also have the opportunity to influence the live experience by “interacting with others, creating dazzling effects throughout the show by clapping, writing personalized messages in the air, and even join Calvin on stage.”

To take part in the concert, users must download the Pico Video app from the Pico App Store, then select The Calvin Harris Experience in your Pico Video feed on the day of the show.

You can RSVP to Wave’s premier Calvin Harris concert here. Rebroadcasts for Pico users will re-air daily on weekends starting Jan 14-26 at 8pm GMT.

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