Hulu is ending Hulu VR support for most (but not all) virtual reality headsets

Newsbrief: Hulu has (quietly) announced that it’s ending Hulu VR support for a number of platforms on June 17, a discontinuation that ultimately leaves only the Oculus Rift and the Samsung Gear VR with access to the Hulu VR app.

The folks at Road to VR spotted shutdown notices saying that Hulu is cutting off access to the Hulu VR app for PlayStation VR, Oculus Go, and Microsoft’s entire line of Mixed Reality headsets, as well as an official announcement for Google Daydream, which lost Hulu VR last year.

There's no word why those specific platforms are losing access to the app but, as game devs can attest, maintaining multiple versions of an app across different platforms can be a time (and money) consuming affair, especially if those platforms aren't attracting enough use.

Keeping Samsung Gear VR support while axing PlayStation VR is a particularly interesting choice given the lifespan of each, though the decision could speak to each userbase's appetite for video content on VR. The Gear VR, a device itself notoriously attracted a sizable lifetime userbase, but Oculus CTO John Carmack has gone on record to say that its user retention wasn't up to snuff. PlayStation so far hasn't been as forthcoming with information on how much use PSVR owners get out of their console-bound headsets, but has, as of January, sold over 5 million PSVR units.