Introduction: The desire of the Xbox community for access to virtual reality gaming is finally seeing some movement. Thanks to a partnership with Meta, famous for its Quest line of VR headsets, Microsoft and its Xbox division could begin to produce both hardware and software for all fans of virtual reality video games.
Article: Countless Xbox console owners have been asking year in and year out for some kind of virtual reality support. During the same period, Microsoft remained very cautious about any promises related to this type of development. That covered not just the immediate future, but also its long-term plans for the fields of virtual reality and augmented reality. Industry experts tried to explain that decision due to a caution that Microsoft has regarding everything VR and AR. While numerous other businesses decided that these technologies were the future of not just gaming, but also many other facets of informational technology, the creators of Windows did not see things in the same way.
So far, that caution paid off, being that the company steered clear of any possibilities of investing money in dead-end VR research and development. Here, the benefit of being skeptical about the expansion of VR and AR meant that Microsoft, unlike Google, for example, with its spectacular failure of the Google Glass project, did not lose either time or money on unmanageable initiatives. But, the times in the gaming and tech industries are always changing and so is the potential of these altered reality technologies.
Maturing Market
The market for virtual reality games is constantly – even though slowly – maturing and growing. That is why it seems that Microsoft is ready to try and tread the same waters, but this time with a huge partnering company. The same company is Meta, formerly Facebook, with its Meta Quest department. It focuses solely on solutions for virtual reality. Thanks to that the Mega Quest headset series has gradually become the staple of VR gaming, especially for the PC platform.
Now, Microsoft and Meta will develop a VR headset of their own, which will be inspired by Xbox. The limited-edition device will use the new Meta Horizon operating system, but more importantly for the future of the same OS, it will be a proving ground that companies like ASUS will follow closely. Lastly, for all of the gamers interested in the outcome of this collaboration, the headset should be compatible with Xbox Game Pass, as well as standard Xbox controllers. That is an impressive combination of both features and company partnerships, which also shows that Microsoft seems more serious than ever about the potential of the gaming VR market.
New VR Partnership
The partnership between a giant of the software industry and the leading company in the social media domain would never go unnoticed. But, in the case of Meta and Microsoft, the attention is present on an even greater level. As many try to gauge what can come from this collaboration, Microsoft is clear about its VR aspect – for the first time in many years, it is expanding its effort to get to that piece of the gaming market. So far, VR peripheral devices and tools for Xbox have been sorely lacking. Microsoft has worked on its Hololens project for years, but as a mixed and augmented reality headset, its usability inside of the gaming domain is very limited. More than a decade ago, Xbox experimented with mixed reality with its Kinect for Xbox, which came out in 2010 but failed to gain much traction among the players. On the other hand, the huge price of Hololens devices puts them squarely in the realm of business applications. So, a pivot from Microsoft towards a more accessible, gaming-focused headset makes a lot of sense.
Fierce Competition
One of the reasons why this big company decided to expand further into VR gaming might lie with its competitors. Sony, for example, has been recently investing in VR tech and making its headsets branch out into PC gaming. That could have been a telling sign for the Microsoft executives who felt, most likely rightly so, that they do not have the luxury of staying out of the virtual reality arena for long. But, by partnering up with Meta, the company is also leveraging its massive Quest headset experience and market presence. Otherwise, a truly ground-up development process might take Microsoft a long time and offer dubious results. The outcome of the device created with Meta is by no means assured, but this headset can get to the market faster and its deployment will be more cost-effective. Besides, chances are that Meta already has a range of devices in the blueprint or even prototype stage. One of these can easily be modified to fit into the Xbox cosmetic theme and supplied with access to Microsoft gaming services. That alone should help the Xbox VR gaming experience test out the waters against its main competitors in a matter of months, not years.
Xbox Meta Quest
There are few details about the actual headset that the collaboration will produce. It will be inspired by Xbox, but that could refer to the design of the device in terms of colors, shapes, and similar aesthetics. Besides the controllers for the same console and its access to Xbox’s gaming service on Microsoft cloud services, the device should be multifunctional. As Mark Zuckerberg stated in an Instagram post, the headset should be a wider part of its growing Meta Horizon OS. Because of that, the device will be a part of a new product line that should take on things like entertainment, exercise, productivity, and other activities besides gaming.
Furthermore, thanks to Xbox Cloud Gaming, players on Meta Quest were able to enjoy games using 2D virtual screens in mixed reality. This shows that the companies have established a solid working relationship. Now, the question is how well will that partnership reflect itself in its most ambitious project to date. The upsides are that both companies are trying to fry bigger fish – Meta is pushing its Horizon OS through this venture, while Microsoft is shoring up its Xbox offer. Both companies face big hurdles in that process and have strong competitors who are in the game a lot longer. But, the pockets of both business entities are very deep and so far, the commitment seems to be there as well. Now, the reaction of the gaming community to the Xbox Meta Quest headset will determine the future of the cross-company collaboration, but also the priority of VR for future Microsoft gaming ventures.
Author: Ivica Milaric, game designer and assistant professor of game design at the Novi Sada Academy of Arts, Republic of Serbia