Introducing BIGSCREEN TV: watch movies, news, Twitch, sports, and 50+ channels with friends in VR

We’re excited to launch Bigscreen TV today, a new way to watch movies, news, anime, sports, and more in VR with friends.

50+ Channels:

• Movies & TV: Rifftrax, MST3K, Anime, Pokémon, Pluto Movies, Comet, Shout! Factory, and more
• Gaming & Sports: Red Bull TV, 24/7 Poker, 24/7 Trivia, CBS Sports, FOX Sports, Top Twitch (Ninja, Shroud, Sodapoppin, Timthetatman, Lirik, DrDisrespect, DrLupo, Pokimane, Summit1g), and more
• News & Finance: NBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Sky News, Newsy, Cheddar News, RT America, Weather Nation, Crypto News, and more
• Random: Monstercat, Lofi Hip Hop Beats Radio, Comedy Central, NASA, SpaceX, 24/7 Cats, and more

Free, Live, 24/7, Social, Public, Cross-Platform

• Channels are free and live, provided by free, ad-supported services we have integrated, like YouTube, Twitch, Pluto, Comet. Some content will have advertising by the provider (ex. Twitch) and some content may not be available in all countries (ex. CBS Sports). Most channels are available 24/7.
• Bigscreen TV is social: each TV channel supports thousands of people (in groups of 8 people per room). Thousands of people around the world can watch a League of Legends eSports tournament live together in VR in Bigscreen.
• TV channels are public, making it easy to find people with similar interests. Join the SpaceX channel and meet other SpaceX fans to watch a rocket launch with!
• Bigscreen is cross-platform, and works on every major PC and Mobile VR headset, including SteamVR (HTC Vive, Valve Index), Windows Mixed Reality, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, Oculus Quest, and Samsung GearVR. Bigscreen’s TV feature is also cross-platform, and works on every headset at launch.

Bigscreen TV vs. User-Created Bigscreen Rooms

For the past 3 years, Bigscreen has only had user-created Bigscreen rooms (up to 12 friends per room). Host a room on a Windows PC and Bigscreen’s screensharing features enable people to watch videos with friends, play PC games, and collaborate together.

Bigscreen TV rooms are public and created by Bigscreen. High-quality video streams directly from providers like YouTube and Twitch. Thousands of people can watch a Bigscreen TV channel together, in groups of 8 people per channel room.

No Windows PC required. No screensharing or upload bandwidth requirements. Instant access in one-click to a curated selection of live TV channels.

How does this work?

We built a new VR video browser technology that can load video streaming and livestreaming sites. We have integrated YouTube, Twitch, Pluto, and Comet, with more sites coming soon. Bigscreen TV enables VR users to access content they can already access via a web browser, but with a user experience that’s like an Apple TV.

Typing text and interacting with UIs with VR controllers can be a frustrating and slow experience. To solve this, we’ve designed VR UI — inspired by smart TVs — that surfaces interesting “channels” to watch in one-click.

Bigscreen Home, Bigscreen TV Events, 3D Movie Nights, and more

Today’s update also includes a new modern-themed starting environment Bigscreen Home, many bug fixes, and UX improvements to make it easier to navigate the UI, easier to invite friends, etc.

In a couple weeks, we will announce a lineup of Bigscreen TV events, new TV channels, and a new cinema environment. Upcoming events include:

• July 11–14 — Overwatch League Playoffs
• July 21 — SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch
• August 25 — The DOTA 2 International Grand Finals

Later this summer, we will also be launching a friends system, premium 3D Movie Nights in partnership with major movie studios, and more.

Download Bigscreen Beta for Free

Bigscreen supports all major PC VR headsets and mobile/standalone VR headsets. You can download Bigscreen Beta for free from the Oculus Store (PC, Mobile, Quest) or Steam.

Supported PC headsets include Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S, all SteamVR headsets, and all Windows Mixed Reality headsets (Samsung Odyssey, HP Reverb, etc.). Supported mobile headsets are the Oculus Go, Samsung GearVR, and Oculus Quest.

Stay in touch with Bigscreen by following us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, and subscribe to our newsletter. Join our 6000+ person Discord.