During an Oculus Rift press event this week, Microsoft revealed that the company would be partnering with Facebook’s virtual headset by shipping an Xbox One controller with every system when it’s commercially released next year and also granting the device the ability to stream Xbox One console games. Despite this rather big news, not much else was revealed at the time. Afterwards though, Microsoft’s Head of Xbox Phil Spencer partook in an interview with the International Business Times and elaborated on Microsoft’s motivations behind this collaboration which seem to stem from a need to invigorate this niche aspect of the market (virtual reality) to encourage mutual success and admits that, “sometimes we’ll participate with products, like the Xbox, but in other opportunities it’s best to find people who are doing amazing work and just say ‘What can we do to help you guys be more successful with your product?’”
The collaboration doesn’t appear to be too financially complex with the cost of the Xbox One controller being the only real issue. “There’s not a financial thing there on the streaming.” Phil Spencer reveals, “It’s just we want them to be successful, we want Windows to be successful, and if people can play Xbox games in more places, we think that’s good for everyone.”
When asked about Microsoft’s own headset, HoloLens, Phil Spencer admits that it “has a lot of things still to be figured out”, most likely referring to its potential workplace and industry uses that go beyond simple virtual reality gaming which appears to be the Oculus’ main focus.
No release window has been announced for HoloLens yet though it is possible more could be revealed about the device during Microsoft’s E3 presentation and numerous shows next week.
Is virtual reality or gaming headsets something that excites you and if so, do you see yourself buying the Facebook’s Oculus Rift, Microsoft’s HoloLens, or even Sony’s Project Morpheus? Let us know in the comments below.
