Google is paying HTC $250 million in cash for a deal that will give the bigger company’s plans for Android XR a boost. Under the terms of their agreement, some members of the HTC Vive engineering team will be joining Google, which describes them as an “incredibly strong technical team with a proven track record in the VR space.” HTC released the consumer version of its first Vive VR headset, designed in partnership with Valve, back in 2016. Last year, it launched the Vive Focus Vision more than a year after it released its first standalone headset for consumers, the Vive XR Elite.
In addition to absorbing certain Vive team members, Google will also get a non-exclusive license to use HTC’S extended reality technologies. HTC can still use its own IPs, and it vows to continue developing and supporting its XR headsets. The companies will also “explore future collaboration opportunities.” Google says the deal will help “its acceleration across the headset and glasses ecosystem.” The company laid out its vision for a unified Android XR ecosystem in December, which will span a range of virtual and mixed reality headsets and glasses. We’re bound to see the first Android XR devices this year, including one codenamed Project Moohan from a Google-Samsung collaboration.
Google’s and HTC’s agreement is still subject to customary closing conditions and will be finalized sometime this first quarter.
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