As a VR Operator, we know that you are always looking for creative ways to reduce your monthly expenses and overall costs. But cutting costs in the wrong places can sacrifice your potential for growth.
We have a plan to help and need your participation to determine if it’s a viable solution for reducing your monthly expenses.
On Tuesday, November 19th, we will be launching a Public Beta to all Operators in Canada and the USA that includes a new launcher environment designed with non-interactive, digital advertisements—with the goal of reducing opted-in Operators’ monthly expenses.
Upon launch, all locations in Canada and the USA will automatically be opted-in to the Ad Beta, and the new environment will automatically be selected as the launcher environment in your stations. If you are one of the few who do not like the new environment, or do not want to participate in a reduced monthly cost ad beta, opting out is easy. To opt out, Operators must edit the Experience and navigate to Launcher Settings where they can toggle off the “Display Advertising” (denoted below).
Ad Beta Roadmap & More Information
You can view & download the full Ad Beta Roadmap and find more information here.
Private Ad Beta Details: Completed
A few weeks back, we sent a build of the new environment to 33 Arcades to test and provide feedback before moving forward with the wider, Public Beta. The feedback was tremendous and helped us make some final tweaks that really made a huge difference and added a ton of value.
Some feedback from the Arcades who tested in the environment during the Private Beta:
- “Something about the UI is just MUCH more comfortable than the previous interface.”
- “The ads do not feel overly intrusive and can be easily ignored…”
- “It’s calming especially for a first time VR user. Fun to look at as well makes you want to explore around the environment.”
- “Game menu was clear and prominent and writing was very clear.”
- “Loved the futuristic feel. I think that’s what most new users expect to see when placed in VR for the first time. Felt very Blade Runner’esque to me.”
The vast majority of testers felt really good about the number of ads in the scene, but a few felt there were maybe a little bit too much. So we decided to reduce the number of ads in the scene for the Public Beta. We also improved sound within the environment.
Public Beta Details: Starting November 19th
- Operators who do choose to participate in the Public Beta will receive a 10% discount on their SpringboardVR monthly subscription costs for the duration of the beta. Once the beta concludes, we will update everyone on what we learned and share with you what type of discount we can offer to Operators who choose to participate in an ad supported launcher. Click here to see terms and details for the discount.
- As I mentioned above, this new environment with ads is totally optional, and we will manually opt you in when we launch. Your participation is greatly appreciated, but not required. That being said, the cost reduction is directly tied to the level of participation. The more of you who join, the higher chance we have of reducing your monthly costs.
- This Public Beta will last 3-6 months. The purpose of the Public Beta is to test how much we can reduce Operators monthly costs for those who choose to use the ad supported launcher environment. We need time to work with our ad partner to start to get a sense of consistent advertisement fill rates based on your participation.
- Currently, our ad partner only offers this service in Canada and the United States, but we are working to change that and provide it to everyone! We have informed non-Canada and non-USA locations that they will receive the new environment, but they will not have ads, or be able to participate in the monthly cost savings.
- Finding the right balance in the amount of ads is a critical metric for this beta. The fewer amount of ads means the smaller chance of reducing overall costs after the beta, but too many might mean unhappy customers. We appreciate your feedback and patience as we find the perfect balance.
Once again, this beta will begin Tuesday, November 19th. If you have any questions, or want to know more about the upcoming betas, please let me know and I’d love to help.
Sincerely,
Madison Jackson
Product Lead
