Xbox kills plans for virtual reality gaming, despite PS4 players having it for YEARS
MICROSOFT has confirmed it's killing off plans to add virtual reality support to your Xbox.
The company has teased the tech for years, but now says players should give up hope of ever seeing VR on Xbox.
Virtual reality, or VR, involves donning a headset and seeing computer-generated images, allowing you to play games as if you were inside them.
Sony launched its own VR headset and controllers (dubbed PlayStation VR) for the PlayStation 4 back in 2016, and it's proved reasonably popular.
Sadly, in an interview with , Microsoft revealed Xbox wouldn't be getting a similar offering.
"We don't have any plans specific to Xbox consoles in virtual reality or mixed reality," said Mike Nichols, Microsoft's marketing chief.
He explained that your desktop computer is ";probably the best platform" for virtual reality.
And he added that for the Xbox, "our focus is primarily on experiences you would play on your TV".
The surprise news will be very confusing for many keen Xbox fans.
Back in 2016, Xbox chief Phil Spencer said that the upcoming Project Scorpio console – eventually released as the Xbox One X – would support "high-end VR".
Virtual Reality v.s. Augmented Reality – what's the difference?
Here's what you need to know...
- Virtual reality involves using a headset to simulate a virtual world
- In a VR world, everything you see will be computer-generated
- Popular VR headsets include the HTC Vive and Facebook's Oculus Rift
- Augmented reality lets you see the real world, but "augments" (or adds on) computer-generated elements
- This means you'll be able to see computer images overlaid onto your real-world view
- For instance, you could wear glasses that overlay directions onto the road in front of you
- Popular AR headsets include Microsoft's HoloLens and the Google Glass spectacles
By this, he meant virtual reality of the same hi-def calibre you'd find on a PC-based system, like Facebook's Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive.
Microsoft had even teamed up with Oculus to allow Xbox controllers to work with the Rift headset.
Then in March 2017, Microsoft began inviting developers to create mixed reality (or augmented reality, where computer-generated images are overlaid onto the world around you) content for the Xbox.
Just a few months later, at the E3 2017 games convention, Spencer said he was "long-term bullish" about virtual reality, but warned that an Xbox VR launch might be a long way off.
Now it seems Microsoft has finally shuttered plans to integrate virtual reality or mixed reality into the Xbox at all.
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Earlier this week, analysts at IDC revealed that sales of virtual reality headsets had plummeted.
In a report about the industry, it emerged that the sale of VR goggles was down 30.5% year on year.
But the report also predicted an incoming boom, with sales of VR headsets tipped "to grow from 8.1million in 2018 to 39.2million by the end of 2022".
Do you think Microsoft is making a mistake here? Are you tempted by Sony's PlayStation VR? Let us know in the comments!
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