VR on the new Xbox: Yes or No?

Image credit: Microsoft

With the announcement of the new Xbox One X, a huge amount of speculation and rumors came to a close. One of such rumors that remain in question is the fate of virtual reality support on the Xbox. Early in the week, after the announcement, a large variety of media outlets were reporting that the new 4k ready Xbox was not going to be getting virtual reality. Then later in the week, reports indicated Microsoft had not yet given up on VR. So which is it? Yay or Nay?

No Virtual Reality For Xbox One X

Image credit: Microsoft

Last Sunday, the Xbox One X was announced. Formerly known as Project Scorpio, the new Xbox One X is a high-powered beast of a console. During the announcement, Microsoft detailed the new console’s power which surpasses the PlayStation Pro by 40 percent. Microsoft mainly discussed the Xbox One X’s power in terms of new unadulterated pure 4k displaying prowess.

At the price of $499, this thing is a beast. With a rating of 6.2 gigaflops, the new Xbox can easily handle 4k gaming and probably virtual reality gaming as well. At least that’s what the speculation was building up in narratives floating around since last year’s mention of VR at E3 (more on this later). These VR rumors were doused by Microsoft’s complete lack of any discussion or mention of VR at the announcement.

Xbox One X Console Controller Gray Shadow. Image credit: Microsoft

Then another bombshell was dropped, quashing the hopes of Xbox virtual reality hopefuls everywhere. Early in the week, a Wall Street Journal article provided some answers that made an Xbox VR future seem very doubtful. When asked in an interview, Xbox marketing chief Mike Nichols said: “The opportunity on PC is larger, because the install base is larger and we think the customer experience will be better on PC.” This statement made it seem like there would be no virtual reality support on the new console. Nichols’ statement made it seem like Microsoft think that virtual reality only makes sense for a PC market.

Maybe VR for Xbox One X After All

After this news hit the web, many were disappointed. It appeared that Microsoft’s new expensive console that cost $499 could not support VR like the far less expensive and less powerful PlayStation which only costs only $299. This new lack of VR seemed to directly contradict Microsoft messages at last year’s E3 which suggested virtual reality would be coming to Xbox through an add-on like the Oculus Rift.

Image credit: Oculus and Microsoft

All this seemed to change when Xbox team head Phil Spencer recently said that Xbox One X still supports virtual reality and that nothing has changed from last year. Spencer also said that he had not gotten many requests for mixed reality (what Microsoft calls most VR on its platforms). Following this, he said the Xbox team will continue to focus on what users want.

Image credit: Microsoft

This suggests virtual reality support is not out of the question for Xbox One X. More or less, it appears that Microsoft may be open to the idea of adding virtual reality support to the Xbox thereby providing what users want. That said, this lack of clear direction does seem to indicate that Microsoft won’t be providing virtual reality for the Xbox anytime soon. So VR on Xbox, Yay or Nay? Well, it’s definitely a possibility but not anytime soon.