After 9to5Mac first reported Apple’s plans to acquire virtual reality company NextVR last month, the Cupertino giant has now confirmed the acquisition to Bloomberg. Apple told Bloomberg its generic “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans” in a statement.
NextVR has been working with big names such as NBA, NHL, NASCAR, WWE, Fox Sports, to name a few in order to fulfill their VR streaming needs for huge events. With this acquisition, NextVR’s existing operations have shut down.
NextVR’s website has now been updated to signify that it is heading in a new direction. “Thank you to our partners and fans around the world for the role you played in building this awesome platform for sports, music and entertainment experiences in Virtual Reality.”, reads the website.
Although Apple didn’t disclose financial aspects of the deal, 9to5Mac‘s report suggests that the deal must have happened somewhere around the $100 million mark. As Bloomberg points out, this is Apple’s third major acquisition in the recent past after voice-based startup Voysis and popular weather app Darksky.
Apple has been showing more interest in AR rather than VR until now and hence, it will be interesting to see how the tech giant shifts its focus to concentrate more on VR-based solutions. Also, it is in the air that the company may make use of NextVR’s technologies for applications related to Apple TV+. We’ll hopefully be getting more information regarding Apple’s plans to use NextVR’s infrastructure in the coming months.
