After launching on PlayStation VR, Jaunt's app with 150+ VR experiences is now available on all major VR platforms
Context & Ripple Effects
Jaunt entered 2016 as the best-capitalized player in cinematic VR — a $50M+ Series C on top of a $65M round led by Disney and Evolution Media Partners made it the highest-funded VR startup, and it built a production arm when Lucasfilm alums joined to open its LA movie studio.
The move reported here closes out that build phase: after debuting on PlayStation VR, the app carrying 150+ experiences now runs on every major headset, converting Jaunt's content investment into maximum-distribution reach just as rivals like WEVR launch their own Netflix-style subscription for cinematic VR.
First-order effects
- Every major VR headset owner can now access Jaunt's full 150+-title library, so the constraint on the company shifts from platform availability to whether enough people open the app at all.
- PlayStation VR users — the largest console-VR audience at the time — gain a one-stop catalog of professionally produced VR content without buying additional hardware.
Second-order effects
- WEVR's subscription service for cinematic VR titles, live on HTC Vive and Gear VR since mid-December, now competes head-to-head with a free multi-platform Jaunt app for the same early adopters.
- Media companies building VR apps — Hulu among them — face a bar where broad cross-headset distribution is table stakes rather than a differentiator.
Third-order effects
- The relationship record shows where this leads: Jaunt ultimately shutters its VR projects, lays off significant staff, and refocuses on AR and volumetric capture — evidence that even the category's best-funded content aggregator couldn't sustain an independent app business against thin headset install bases.
- The vacuum left by independent aggregators gets filled by platform-native offerings from large media companies, as Amazon's later dedicated Prime Video VR app for Oculus and Gear VR headsets illustrates.
The trend: Cinematic VR distribution is consolidating from venture-funded independent apps toward platform-native services run by large media companies, with hardware install bases deciding who survives.