With Microsoft’s E3 2017 press conference taking place in less than a week, some were expecting to hear mentions of virtual reality devices for Project Scorpio. It looks like we’ll have to wait a little bit longer for announcements according to company officials who said that Microsoft will not have any form of VR for Xbox consoles at E3. This is due to them currently focusing on mixed reality for PC.
Virtual reality for Project Scorpio is supposed to be arriving sometime next year, and Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman implied that when it does it could potentially be wireless.
Speaking to Polygon, Kipman said, “Our primary focus is making our mixed reality experiences a success on Windows 10 PCs. We believe that right now a Windows PC is the best platform for mixed reality as its open ecosystem and enormous installed base offer the best opportunity for developers, and Windows offers the most choices for consumers.”
“Windows has been the birthplace of a variety of technologies, and we believe this will hold for mixed reality too. Given the efforts we have underway on Windows for mixed reality, and our belief that console VR should be wireless, right now we are focused on developing mixed reality experiences for the PC, not on the console.”
Microsoft has already partnered with Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and 3Glasses on a number of headsets for Windows Mixed Reality-ready PCs. If we want those experiences on Scorpio, we may have to wait until Microsoft can develop a wireless headset that is affordable.
Source: Polygon
Jennifer is a games journalist, former games journalist and PR Manager at Gearbox. They contributed 234 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: went on to write for Windows Central and later managed PR for Gearbox Software.