Is Immersive tech ready for a subscription-based model like Netflix or Disney+?
When you ask someone to give you a recommendation on a TV show or movie to watch, chances are it’ll live on Netflix. Nowadays we don’t even ask someone if they have Netflix before we give our suggestions. This is how ingrained the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime video are in our daily lives.
They’re part of our monthly spending habits and if someone replies ‘I don’t have Netflix’, it sets you back a little.
The subscription model has taken over our everyday lives. From the way we consume entertainment (Netflix, Disney+), to use creative software (Adobe CC, Microsoft Office) or even consume meals (Gousta, HelloFresh).
It’s not surprising why these companies have adopted this model. Netflix has an estimated 167.1 million customers (2019) each paying somewhere in the region of the £5.99-£11.99 each month.
It guarantees a small monthly income from masses of users. Looking at Adobe’s creative suite, you could purchase this a few years back for a few hundred pounds. It provided a one-off fee with limited upgrades and new features with the user eventually getting sick and tired of outdated features and having to fork out another few hundred pounds for the latest version.
A subscription model keeps the user updated. The company entices the user to continue subscription with cloud storage incentives, synchronization across devices and small regular updates. Adobe Creative Cloud as it’s now known, retails for around £50 a month for the complete package. Meaning those who use the product for many years end up paying way above the cost they usually would.
The way VR apps are (almost) always purchased is similar to that of a smartphone app. They are set at a small one-off price, with some games noted as free to attract large user bases and gain popularity.
A top level-game for the Oculus Quest is priced between £18.99 and £29.99 — remarkably cheaper than console games on the PS4 or Nintendo Switch.
But more recently virtual reality apps like TRIPP and Supernatural have adopted the subscription model to try and shift a rolling-fee to their audience.
TRIPP VR
TRIPP is a VR meditation and wellness app. It quotes that “based on scientific research, TRIPP helps you feel calm and focused, and less anxious.A regular mindfulness practice can help you reduce stress and build the mental resilience you need to stay healthy inside and out”.
The app offers a free trial and the full version is priced at $4.99 a month and releases regular new experiences and sessions.
Having tried this, it’s a very good deal in my opinion. A relaxing and fun experience that could easily be integrated into our daily habits for a morning wellness session — cheaper than alternatives like Headspace or yoga.
Supernatural
Supernatural describes itself as a “complete and connected fitness service”, to me and you, some sort of virtual gym experience. The app is launched by the team behind WITHIN VR and offers a new fitness exercise everyday.
Many have criticised the app’s price point. Offering a 30-day-free-trial and then $19/pm or $149/pa thereafter.
Reviews have been mixed. People aren’t denying it’s not a good fitness experience that is clearly inspired by the likes of Box VR and Beat Saber. But the price point is a huge deal. At that price, it competes with a cheap gym pass, but it’s not a gym pass, it’s a VR experience that when compared averages out at buying a game each month for the cost of this.
Viveport Infinity
HTC have adopted a similar route of Netflix and Adobe and packaged various content together from a number of developers at a fixed monthly fee (of £12.99).
This route seems smart. Everyone gets their cut of the pie, it provides users with a seemingly unlimited access to games and experiences for a small monthly fee — about half the price of 1 top-tier game a month. In comparison to Supernatural, this is much better value for money.
What’s the future?
Subscription is most certainly the most viable and likely solution to most of our purchases. They’re becoming more and more acceptable to charge people a monthly rate to access services.
But where subscriptions fail is greed.
People will willingly pay monthly for a service if they see value in doing so. For £8.99 you have unlimited access to thousands of films and TV shows. For £29.99 you can have a box of fresh ingredients delivered to your door from HelloFresh, and for £50 a month you can access Adobe’s comprehensive list of creative software necessary for my work.
But do people want to pay for just one game or experience? Probably not.
Netflix is only Netflix because of the catalogue of content. If you had to pay a very small fee for every purchase (similar to the model of Lovefilm), it is likely to fail. This is the same for VR experiences.
Viveport Infinity seems like a very smart route to take following in the footsteps of successful services. If Netflix can be the home of movies, and Spotify the home of music, why can’t Viveport be the home of VR entertainment?
One route for specific apps could be the freemium offer similar to the likes of Tinder offers. Users can use Tinder for free, but they are limited to the amount of swipes they can do, and are restricted of features like moving location. A small monthly or annual fee gives you that option.
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