When the Xbox One X console was first revealed, various Microsoft sources stated that it would be the Xbox console that would be used for any virtual reality games and experiences going forward.
Microsoft has been completely silent since then when it comes to any sort of VR integration on the Xbox One X and now, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, the company’s chief marketing officer, Mike Nichols, has confirmed that there are indeed no longer any plans whatsoever for VR on not only the Xbox One X but any Xbox console at all.
“We don’t have any plans specific to Xbox consoles in virtual reality or mixed reality. Our perspective on it has been and continues to be that the PC is probably the best platform for more immersive VR and MR,” Nichols says in the interview. “As an open platform, it just allows faster, more rapid iteration. There are plenty of companies investing in it in the hardware side and the content side, or some combination therein. Obviously on phones, augmented reality is a good scenario as well that’s going to grow. But as it relates to Xbox, no. Our focus is primarily on experiences you would play on your TV, and ultimately we’d like to make those experiences more broadly.”
This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise given how much effort Microsoft has been putting into virtual and mixed reality on Windows 10 these past few years though it will definitely be a disappointment to those who had been waiting for the original promise to be kept.
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