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HTC today launched VIVERSE Worlds, a 3D content platform that can be embedded on “any website for any device,” positioning it as a lighter, more flexible way of hosting and browsing 3D content across the web.

Unlike HTC’s existing Viverse metaverse platform—or Meta’s Horizon Worlds, for that matter—the key differentiator is Viverse Worlds focuses on 3D content distribution. Instead of requiring any sort of app download, the platform offers up a web-based interface for quick and easy 3D content browsing, supporting XR headsets and flatscreen devices alike.

The company isn’t aiming low either, likening Viverse Worlds to what “YouTube did for video,” but for 3D content, further noting it’s an “open, accessible, and immersive online home for creators to build, share, and explore the next generation of 3D experiences.”

And Viverse Worlds hopes to differentiate by offering fairly high quality content too, thanks to the inclusion of HTC’s Polygon Streaming tech, which allows the streaming of “complex, high-poly models across various platforms and devices with unparalleled efficiency,” the company said back at the tech’s 2024 unveiling. While web-based content excels at quick deployment, rendering constraints typically make for simplistic, low-poly visuals.

Initially targeted exclusively at Viverse for Business, but now at the core of Viverse Worlds, Polygon Streaming only streams and renders the 3D elements currently visible to users at the currently needed density, HTC says, making it possible to deliver higher quality 3D content without the need of bespoke executables.

And like HTC as a whole, which has firmly embedded itself in the enterprise and prosumer XR space over the past few years, Viverse Worlds appears to be appealing to both companies who want things like immersive shopping experiences, 3D manuals, and virtual product showrooms—and consumers looking to browse and share the platform’s array of XR environments.

“Users can subscribe to creators for updates and see all their 3D content in one place. Embedding 3D is effortless—simply copy and paste it into any website as an IFrame, all for free,” HTC says.

To boot, Viverse Worlds also closely integrates with Sketchfab, the marketplace and hosting platform for millions of 3D models. That, and Viverse Worlds supports content created using Viverse Create’s no-code web builder and its browser-based PlayCanvas extension.

While HTC’s Polygon Streaming and easy embedding could give Viverse Worlds an edge, it’s not an easy space to compete in. Similar platforms, like FrameVR, Matterport, and Spatial.io, focus on niches instead of broadly shooting for “YouTube” levels of adoption, simply based on how difficult it is to monetize. Notably, one of the biggest analogues, Mozilla’s now-defunct WebXR-based Hubs platform, summarily shut down in 2024 following financial issues.

That said, HTC ultimately hasn’t tipped its hand on its overarching monetization strategy. The company will be hosting public demos of Viverse Worlds at Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain on March 3rd – 6th, so we’re hoping to learn more then.

What is clear though is HTC isn’t the company it once was. Last month, Google announced it had acquired a number of HTC’s XR engineers for $250 million, something Google said would “accelerate the development of the Android XR platform across the headsets and glasses ecosystem.” Where that leaves HTC is still a mystery.