Microsoft No Longer Plans to Bring VR to the Xbox One
Microsoft does not have any plans to bring virtual reality to its Xbox consoles. The company previously mentioned its plans for VR on the Xbox One X, aka Project Scorpio, but we never really got to see VR actually running on any Xbox One devices. Plus, the company quickly corrected itself about bringing VR to the Xbox shortly before the announcement of the Xbox One X at E3 2017.
While Microsoft continues its investment on Windows Mixed Reality, the company recently confirmed in an interview that it is not bringing VR or MR to the Xbox. Microsoft thinks PC is “probably the best platform” for VR and MR, despite talking about wireless VR for consoles earlier. Microsoft has been criticised in the past for not having VR on the Xbox One X or even a competitor to the PlayStation VR, but that didn’t seem to have any effects on the company’s current plans.
“We don’t have any plans specific to Xbox consoles in virtual reality or mixed reality. Our perspective on it has been and continues to be that the PC is probably the best platform for more immersive VR and MR. As an open platform, it just allows faster, more rapid iteration. There are plenty of companies investing in it in the hardware side and the content side, or some combination therein. Obviously on phones, augmented reality is a good scenario as well that’s going to grow. But as it relates to Xbox, no. Our focus is primarily on experiences you would play on your TV, and ultimately we’d like to make those experiences more broadly,” Microsoft Gaming’s CMO Mike Nichols told GameIndustry in an interview.
The confirmation from Microsoft doesn’t come as a surprise, however. The firm was expected to discuss VR back at E3 2017 — that didn’t happen. And at this year’s E3, there was 0 mention of VR on the Xbox One. While the company did tease the next-gen Xbox console, codenamed Scarlett, there was little to no talk about hardware at this year’s E3 from the company. Will there be VR on the Scarlett? For now, no one really knows — but time will tell.
Tagged with Xbox One, Xbox One X, Xbox VR