Methods and systems for spectating characters in virtual reality views

A method, comprising:

• providing an interface for presenting a view of an interactive environment of a video game being played by a plurality of players, the interface being displayed on a client device to a spectator, wherein the view is associated with a first vantage point;
• generating, in response to an input of the spectator, an interactable map view of the interactive environment, the interactable map view includes:
• a plurality of indicators indicating respective locations of the plurality of players within the environment;
• a plurality of player portal views respective of each of the plurality of players;
• and
• displaying the interactable map view to the spectator via the client device, wherein the interactable map view enables the spectator to view a third-person view of each of the plurality of players concurrently;
• tracking a gaze of the spectator while the spectator views the interactable map view;
• detecting that the gaze is directed to one of the plurality of player portal views or a map of the interactive environment;
• enlarging, in response to said detecting, the one of the plurality of player portal views of the map of the interactive environment;
• and
• selectively providing audio associated with the one of the plurality of player portal views to the client device.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program executable by a processor-based system, comprising:

• program instructions for providing an interface for presenting an overhead view of an interactive environment of a video game on a head mounted display (HMD) of a spectator, the overhead view is associated with a first vantage point for showing one or more players within the interactive environment;
• program instructions for providing a magnifying window within the interface that covers a portion of the overhead view, the magnifying window displays a magnified view of the interactive environment depending on a location of the magnifying window within the interface, the magnified view is associated with a second vantage point that is closer to the interactive environment than the first vantage point is;
• program instructions for detecting a selection by the spectator for entering a third-person view of a player, the third-person view is associated with a third vantage point that is closer to the player than the first vantage point or the second vantage point;
• program instructions for moving the second vantage point of the magnifying window to the third vantage point such that a virtual position of the spectator is brought closer to the player within the magnifying window, while the overhead view remains at the first vantage point outside the magnifying window;
• and
• program instructions for wiping away the magnifying window during at least a portion of said moving the second vantage point, said wiping away the magnifying window includes expanding a size of the magnifying window such that the third-person view replaces the overhead view in the interface.