07-27-2017 06:54 PM
It is with a tremendously heavy heart that I let you all know that we are closing down AltspaceVR on August 3rd, 7PM PDT. The company has run into unforeseen financial difficulty and we can’t afford to keep the virtual lights on anymore. This is surprising, disappointing, and frustrating for every one of us who have put our passion and our hopes into AltspaceVR. We know it will probably feel similarly for you.
You’ve made AltspaceVR one of the best places to be in VR (or on the internet). I won’t try to write down all of the memories that are flooding my heart right now of all of the laughter, puns, fun and friendliness that existed in this community. There have been spontaneous concerts, new friendships, marriages, surprise serenades (looking at you Shoo Shoo!) and too many warm hugs from Claire to count. We hosted so many firsts! And we still have the record for most people in VR at one time (were any of you there at Reggie’s first performance?). We’ve also seen so many community members come into their own and host karaoke nights, improv, movie nights and meetups for people all across the globe.
We are all humbled by what you made of this virtual oasis. Thank you for spending your time building, hosting, and making the best community we could have wished for. Please take the next week to make sure those connections live on past AltspaceVR. Because if you do, then what we built will really live on.
There have been many tears and there will probably be a few more to come. I’ve given up wiping off the mist that clouds my headset. Please join us for a final farewell party on 8/3. At the end of the party, we will be shutting down AltspaceVR.
AltspaceVR will officially close down on Thursday, August 3rd @ 5-7pm PT. Please make sure to meet up with any friends before then to be able to stay in touch.
You can save all of your photos and friends list by going to https://account.altvr.com/events and clicking "Friends" and "Photos". Click CTRL + S on PC or CMD + S on Mac. Make sure it says "Webpage complete". The full sized images will be downloaded.
For more information about this sad news, please visit our blog.
- Keegan
07-30-2017 01:16 AM
kojack said:
From what I've read, a patent troll was going after them, and that scared away the VC funding.
Here's the lawsuit against AltSpaceVR: https://insight.rpxcorp.com/litigation_documents/12511784
The patent is for a performer and audience interacting with each other in a virtual world.
07-30-2017 10:48 AM
Mradr said:
Long as all the code is made by AltSpace VR - why would they be scared? An idea like this has been around for a long time. It also states devices - witch wasn't made by AltSpace but by third parties. I'm not even sure it could even be hold up in court long as all code was written by them in the end. Programming is consider free speech so long as the idea/code written is made by a group of programmers.
07-31-2017 11:04 AM
08-02-2017 11:36 AM
08-02-2017 02:21 PM
08-03-2017 03:51 AM
08-03-2017 11:55 AM
08-03-2017 01:01 PM
Altspace never really had any useful VR function’s and had
nowhere to grow because of that.
Something like Big Screen Beta already has some use and a
lot of room to grow to make that use better. I would be a lot more surprised if
an app like that just shut down.
08-03-2017 02:58 PM
08-03-2017 03:14 PM
lovethis said:
What alternatives are there to Alt Space?