thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
If you're waiting for VR on Xbox, you might be waiting for a pretty long time :/
Just this past week, Sony finally came forward and revealed some of the specifications, including look and design, for PSVR2, and needless to say, it looks amazing. If they can nail the pricing (and if it comes around where PSVR Gen 1 did, they will), that combined with their 1P initiatives in the VR space will provide some amazing experiences...
...experiences that won't be possible on platforms like Xbox Series, unless Microsoft finally steps into the consumer VR space on the console side. So, why haven't they yet? I've been listening to some well-known voices in the community, including those who mainly only cover Xbox content, essentially say the reason for this is because Microsoft want to focus their 1P on traditional gaming (non-VR) content, and not splinter their internal development efforts between that and VR content. However, the more I think about it, the more this explanation sounds kind of BS, let me explain.
Not the official look. But anyway, VR solutions like the PSVR 2 are set to help further innovate and proliferate VR gaming among the mainstream
See, at this point myself and others aren't even asking Microsoft to devote 1P developers to VR content! They do have some teams that are familiar with the tech, like Ninja Theory (imagine Project Mara or Hellblade II, with its 3D audio capabilities, in a VR environment), iD Software, Bethesda etc., and some of them are still continuing those efforts in part on PC versions of their games. But it actually makes no sense that, going on five years since Microsoft tickled the idea of VR on Xbox, they have not seemingly so much as even formed a strategic partnership with a current VR provider like Samsung or HTC, to provide a means of their headsets being officially supported on Series platforms. Even if that means VR efforts on Xbox would fall mainly on 3P developers, at least with that approach they are providing the option to their customer base within the ecosystem. It'd be up to the players to purchase those 3P headsets, but at least they would have an additional platform to use them on now.
It's also not like Microsoft doesn't have experience building VR (or even AR) solutions for non-gaming ventures. They have done so for military, medical and various research fields, and that is both tech and expertise they could funnel down to a consumer device. Now, they could in fact at this moment be R&D'ing on such a device, but some of their own public statements don't indicate this. When you listen to certain prominent voices in Xbox community spaces, one of the things they also bring up (in terms of trying to justify why Microsoft not get involved in VR)..well, actually it's two talking points, and the more I think about them the more I think these are also BS.
The first goes back to what I said about the idea of MS focusing their 1P on non-VR gaming content. However, the way some phrase it would make you think Microsoft's 1P are incapable of supporting traditional and VR gaming content simultaneously. The way some put it, you'd even think Microsoft and Xbox are incompetent in being able to even provide support for 3P VR headsets as a mere option of peripheral to Xbox owners. These are both nonsensical arguments, especially the latter, considering Microsoft have no problem selling Elite controllers, expansion cards and lots of other peripherals to Xbox players...what difference would one more in terms of a VR headset (and again, it would not even need to be a 1P one, just support for a 3P headset) make?
1P Microsoft studios like Bethesda Softworks have no problem with providing VR-geared content for even
their biggest games, would it not be quite cool to explore the planets of Starfield in VR on
an Xbox Series X or S?
The second argument for this line of justification by such sorts, though, is quite outlandish IMO; the idea that VR is simply too niche to conjure Microsoft's involvement in any way within the consumer space. Now sure, VR is in no way outselling traditional gaming consoles (let alone smartphones), but you don't sell 10 million headsets in the course of one year (in the case of the Oculus Quest 2) if VR is "niche" to the point of drawing no money. In fact, you don't get companies as big as Meta, Samsung, Sony, HTC etc. investing into VR the way they do, if they don't see at least promise for revenue from it. That could be in terms of direct hardware sales, or what presence the devices can do for larger product ecosystems they are within (such as in the case of the PSVR2), or the various consumer services and entertainment fields VR solutions can allow manufacturers to get into.
And, let's also be honest here, if VR is "niche", then by the metrics of which we've seen Netflix-style gaming subscription growth compared to VR sales growth, then the former would also fall under classification of being "niche". GamePass saw roughly 10 million new subscribers in the year of 2020, meanwhile Quest 2 sold 10 million units in 2021. If this is a pure numbers thing, and the prevailing idea is that services like GamePass are sustainable (but may not be raking in tons and tons of revenue/profit...yet)....then why can't these type of game subscription services also be considered "niche"? Why are companies like Microsoft, Amazon etc. investing tons of millions into something "niche"? Is it possibly because they see the other potential financial & resource benefits it can bring in years to come? If so, why not hold that same speculation for companies like Sony actively investing into VR right now?
It may be an awesome service, but just going by the numbers what makes something like GamePass any less "niche" than VR gaming?
Again, I'll just make it simple: if Microsoft doesn't want to take the full plunge into VR this generation, if they just want to dip their toes into it, that is fine. We're not asking for them to devote large 1P resources to VR gaming content, we're not even asking them to release a 1P headset anytime soon. Just whitelist compatibility for specific 3P headsets on Xbox consoles, that would be enough of a start. But the idea that they can skip even that, and just ignore the VR space altogether this generation, is an ill-conceived one IMO. And in many ways, I extend this to Nintendo as well: they may still be haunted by the ghost of Virtual Boy, but the Labo VR stuff did pretty decently for the Switch, and there are cheap, affordable (if not exactly mindblowing) VR solutions for mobile right now. There exist lots of game design potential for various Nintendo properties in the VR space, it would be a shame if they continued to use penny-pinching R&D habits as an excuse to not explore some deeper VR solutions for the Switch 2.
That's right; you too, Nintendo! Don't stop at simply Labo VR, you can do a
ton more with VR on the Switch 2 and you know it!
That said, and considering their proliferation in the PC space where the best (technologically speaking) VR solutions currently reside, it just feels more odd that Microsoft aren't at least extending some compatibility support for that on Xbox consoles. It would even give more of a potential reason for some to subscribe to GamePass, of all things! But they won't get the chance to see these benefits if they don't take the first step, and sooner rather than later. But I'm interested in seeing what others have to say on the matter. Do you think it's time Microsoft at least open up support for some third-party VR devices on Xbox platforms, to therein open up the possibilities even more for creative ideas to proliferate within the VR gaming software space (thereby also being beneficial for other manufacturers and developers in the space)? Do you feel them doing such would help in encouraging a faster clip of VR adoption among the mainstream? Do you feel it's time they shoot beyond that and push for their own 1P VR headset solution with some 1P content to match? Or, do you think, even after all that's been said here, that VR is a waste of time, a fad, and not worth pursuing?
As usual I look forward to seeing your responses!
