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Payday 2 developer partners with Acer to design StarVR headset

Acer and Starbreeze will design, manufacture, market, and sell the device, which has applications outside the home.

David Craddock

May 16, 2016 4:03 PM

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Starbreeze announced its StarVR headset at last year's E3. Ahead of this year's annual conference, the Payday 2 developer has announced a partnership with electronics and hardware maker Acer to build, market, and sell the device, according to a report from GameSpot.

"Since our launch in June 2015, we have had an amazing start with StarVR. By partnering with Acer we shift gears yet again to firmly position us as the leader in top-end VR experiences," said Starbreeze CEO Bo Andersson Klint (per Business Wire). "We've been working with a clear roadmap for our VR strategy from day one and are now about to realize one of the first major collaborations we set out to achieve. The future for StarVR is now set and extremely exciting."

Neither Acer nor Starbreeze has set a firm date for the headset. Therefore, StarVR will most likely be the last VR headset out of the gate, behind Oculus Rift and Vive, which launched over the last few months, and PlayStation VR, due for release this fall.

Nevertheless, StarVR has a killer feature to distinguish itself from competitors: wide field of vision, extending its VR field as far as the user's peripheral vision. Starbreeze is designing the device to offer a 210-degree field of view—a sizable jump over the Rift's 110-degree FOV.

Besides consumer use, Acer and Starbreeze have their sights set on "professional- and location-based entertainment" markets (per The Verge). In other words, StarVR could be used outside the home, untethered from your PC and available for use in arcades and similar public venues.

"Starbreeze and Acer share the same goal of delivering best-in-class VR applications, and we look forward to unlocking new VR possibilities together with this partnership," said Acer Corporate President and CEO Jason Chen.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.