Acer gains majority of shares in StarVR joint venture

Acer will inject US$ 5 million into the joint venture.

Starbreeze AB and Acer Inc. have announced a new capitalization plan for their joint venture StarVR Corporation. Acer will be adding US$ 5 million to the joint venture for marketing and sale of the StarVR virtual reality headset.

When the original joint venture was announced last year, Acer and Starbreeze had agreed to equally share a capitalization plan of up to US$ 25 million through capital injections on a planned schedule. By now, a total of US$ 10 million has been injected into the company in equal amounts by the two parties.

In present situation, as Acer injects US$ 5 million into the joint venture, its share will increase to 66.7%. On the other hand, Starbreeze’s share of business will decrease to 33.3%. In lieu of this, Starbreeze will mitigate its “remaining capital commitment” of $7.5 million.

Acer Chairman and CEO Jason Chen says increasing share in StarVR shows their commitment to VR industry. He also said that Acer is looking forward to deliver improved VR experience through partnership with Starbreeze and ongoing technological innovation.

Although no further capital injections have been agreed but Acer will be handling the financing if any needs arise.

**StarVR headsets is being developed as a high-quality VR product that offers 210 degree field of view and 5120×1440 resolution. (Source: StarVR Corporation)**

Starbreeze also expressed its commitment to the device and VR. It says it is inclined to provide users access to premium VR experiences through the development of location-based VR. Starbreeze acquired location-based VR firm Enterspace in summer 2017. It would now place its focus on developing content.

For revenue generation, Starbreeze has been majorly relying on its two games: Payday 2 and Dead by Daylight. Its recently released game The Raid: World War II has received negative to mixed impressions from critics and users.

Acer’s US$ 5 million injection into the joint venture comes as a breeze for Starbreeze. However, Starbreeze continues to hold StarVR-related intellectual property rights, including patents and trademarks related to InfinitEye, StarVR (headset), ePawn and the StarVR SDK (Software Development Kit). Acer continues to hold patents related to electrical engineering, mechanical design and ergonomics that are used in the headset. R&D and reference design for the StarVR headset will also be carried out by Starbreeze and Acer going forward.