Xbox Praises PlayStation VR, Oculus, And Valve But Has No Plans For Its Own VR System

Microsoft believes the metaverse is coming, and that mixed reality and virtual reality will play a part in getting there, but the Xbox company isn't preparing to get involved in making VR hardware like competitor Sony does with PlayStation VR or Oculus or Valve. Microsoft is instead focused on producing software.

Speaking at a WSJ Tech Live event this week, as reported by VGC, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said Microsoft believes new levels of immersion in experiences can be achieved through things like mixed reality, virtual reality, or even the metaverse. But Microsoft doesn't plan to make any hardware or devices itself, instead opting to focus on the software.

"We're focused a lot more on the software side of that right now. When I think about immersive worlds and I think about the connection of a player and community, that's something that's very high on our investment list," Spencer said.

Spencer said he applauds Sony, Oculus, and Valve for what these companies have been able to achieve in the VR space.

"I think that the hardware innovation that's happening is great and it's an important enabler, [but] right now I'm deciding to stay more in the software side of that enablement. I believe it will scale better in the long run," he said. "And you know, I applaud what Sony's doing, I applaud what Oculus is doing, what Valve has done. I mean, there's a lot of good players out there that have done some amazing VR work."

In the end, Spencer said he thinks Microsoft is making a "good bet" by focusing on software instead of hardware when it comes to VR.

In 2019, Spencer made headlines when he said Microsoft releases products that it consumers want, and "nobody's asking for VR." Spencer said at the time that he has a number of issues with VR as a platform, beginning with the fact that he sees it as an "isolating" technology that separates people instead of bringing them together. Virtual reality technology may one day explode in popularity, but for now, it is a niche market, Spencer said, so the company doesn't plan to focus on it.

In a thread on Twitter, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said he thinks Spencer has made an astute observation about VR. He added that the revenue from VR games spending so far has amounted to a "rounding error of [a] rounding error."

In 2018, it was reported that Microsoft worked on an Xbox VR headset to compete with PlayStation VR, but the proposal never went anywhere.