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[Draugoth]

The head of Xbox Game Studios has said the VR and AR market is currently too small for the platform holder to get involved in.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Matt Booty suggested Xbox games need to reach around 10 million players to be successful.

“I think for us, it’s just a bit of wait until there’s an audience there,” he said. “We’re very fortunate that we have got these big IPs that have turned into ongoing franchises with big communities.

“We have 10 games that have achieved over 10 million players life-to-date, which is a pretty big accomplishment, but that’s the kind of scale that we need to see success for the game and it’s just, it’s not quite there yet with AR, VR.”

 

[feynoob]

Hey Phil

 

[hyperbertha]

When the vr market does get big, sony will have a matured platform on their hands at the ready, and companies experienced with vr games.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Not many VR makers large enough for you to buy out yet, eh?

 

[brettski2024]

Correct. VR is lame

 

[feynoob]

Correct. VR is lame

Speak for yourself.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

just like cloud and the console business

 

[analog_future]

 

[Heisenberg007]

So why was Xbox promising VR content and VR compatibility with Xbox One X back in 2016?

 

[Markio128]

Makes sense really - I believe Beat Saber has only made a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue. Niche.

 

[avin]

When the vr market does get big, sony will have a matured platform on their hands at the ready, and companies experienced with vr games.

I think that depends on whether iterative improvements of current platforms can get the market there, which is by no means obvious. I personally think it unlikely, because regular people just aren't going to do what VR currently requires. It may instead require new technologies. If that happens, companies that invested heavily in the idea of great big cell phones on your face might be in for a rough ride.

Having said all that, respect to Sony for taking some risk this time around.

avin

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Accurate.

 

[tusharngf]

VR needs to be affordable first

 

[FoxMcChief]

Xbox is struggling enough as it is. Why dip your toe into a small niche market as well? I say that as an owner of a Quest 2, and likely a Quest 3 (at some point).

 

[Jigsaah]

What would it take to get like a Quest to work on Xbox? Wasn't there plans for that to happen in some capacity before? I'm not really interested but I'm old and not the masses.

I guess quest is stand alone...so...wouldn't really make sense. But any other VR headset for roughly 4-500 dollars

 

[brian0057]

He's not wrong.

 

[DeepEnigma]

just like cloud and the console business

Well, that's about end game control and stripping that from the consumer.

 

[Kacho]

Smart move. VR is a dead end.

 

[Ozriel]

When the vr market does get big, sony will have a matured platform on their hands at the ready, and companies experienced with vr games.

At this rate, that seems like a loooong way off.

So why was Xbox promising VR content and VR compatibility with Xbox One X back in 2016?

Because like everyone else, they expected VR blow up back in the day.

It took the Oculus Quest before VR got mainstream success. And even that has had its own struggles.

I should know…I invested around $10k in 360 video rigs back in 2015/2016 when we thought it was the next big thing. What a waste.

 

[Ozriel]

just like cloud and the console business

No. Not like their cloud, console and PC business.

 

[Helghan]

So why was Xbox promising VR content and VR compatibility with Xbox One X back in 2016?

Because they thought Sony would increase the market size to make it worth pursuing too, but Sony failed.

 

[GymWolf]

If he can't make you throw your psvr2 and quest 2 in the garbage, why even trying.

 

[Ozriel]

Even if they wanted to go into VR, they pretty much hamstrung themselves this gen by making the Series S that weak. That will struggle with high end VR, and devs aren’t allowed to make XSX exclusive games.

Should have been a 6TF minimum console.

 

[GHG]

When the vr market does get big, sony will have a matured platform on their hands at the ready, and companies experienced with vr games.

It's fine, they will just leave the grafting to others and then make acquisitions when the time is right.

 

[nowhat]

VR Comes to Xbox with 'Project Scorpio' Console, Launching in 2017 — Breaking

Microsoft today announced ‘Project Scorpio’ a new Xbox console launching in 2017 which promises to bring “high fidelity VR” and 4K gaming to the console world. At Microsoft’s Xbox E3 press conference today, the company finally made official the rumored ‘Project Scorpio’, a new Xbox console set...

www.roadtovr.com

 

[Quixz]

I think Xbox is making a mistake here, the vision pro is coming and there is no reason why apple can't launch a controller specifically for gaming.

Yes, I know it's expensive but that thing will fly off shelves and you know version 2 will follow soon after.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

When the vr market does get big, sony will have a matured platform on their hands at the ready, and companies experienced with vr games.

Yup, they’ll be playing catch up like they are already. Xbox have the IPs in house for VR too. Just to name a few, Forza Horizon, Gears of War, Fable and Halo in VR? Sign me the fuck up.

Since they are also well into the PC market, they’d make more from their games on that specific platform. Whereas Sony are leaving that area of the market high and dry.

Why would you not want VR on Xbox? VR is such an awesome experience when the right games are there. If you don’t want it, don’t buy it…

 

[Kilau]

Because they thought Sony would increase the market size to make it worth pursuing too, but Sony failed.

Fukin Sony!

 

[feynoob]

Even if they wanted to go into VR, they pretty much hamstrung themselves this gen by making the Series S that weak. That will struggle with high end VR, and devs aren’t allowed to make XSX exclusive games.

Should have been a 6TF minimum console.

 

[feynoob]

It's fine, they will just leave the grafting to others and then make acquisitions when the time is right.

The thing is, they have a talented VR studio's more than the industry.

Id, obsidian, Bethesda. Not to mention their IPs. They can dominate this field easily and have no competition.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Because they thought Sony would increase the market size to make it worth pursuing too, but Sony failed.

#AlwaysSony'sFault

 

[Helghan]

#AlwaysSony'sFault

In this case also Meta's. Definitely not Microsoft's. Never Microsoft's.

 

[DeepEnigma]

In this case also Meta's. Definitely not Microsoft's. Never Microsoft's.

In this case, MS's and only MS.

 

[Beechos]

What a stupid response. Ms already dabbles in ar, plus I'm pretty sure the cloud market is just as small as vr atm yet they are involved with that too.

 

[R6Rider]

Such a shame. So many of their IPs (especially Bethesda ones) would translate well to VR.

 

[Romulus]

Yet the quest platforms were outselling the latest Xbox consoles.

 

[Fredrik]

Cranky take:
Apple killed VR this year. Now it’s all about AR. But Apple made sure nobody else will succeed since everything else looks bad now. And since their own headset is took expensive they won’t succeed either. So Apple killed AR too.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Well, it's larger than Xbox Series if we combine Oculus and Sony, so okay, Matt. And Apple seems so 'stupid' too .

Too bad that Forza will be basically castrated as a racer because of this choice.

 

[Ozriel]

Cranky take:
Apple killed VR this year. Now it’s all about AR. But Apple made sure nobody else will succeed since everything else looks bad now. And since their own headset is took expensive they won’t succeed either. So Apple killed AR too.

Quest 3 will show up this year and sell millions

 

[DeepEnigma]

Well, it's larger than Xbox Series if we combine Oculus and Sony, so okay, Matt. And Apple seems so 'stupid' too .

Too bad that Forza will be basically castrated as a racer because of this choice.

Agreed.

 

[winjer]

VR was always a niche market, and recently, it has regressed even further.
No point investing in such a tiny market.

 

[reinking]

Guess they will just buy their way into it when they are ready.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Not gonna lie I've yet to find the time and or effort to unpack the index. And I love shit like VR now imagine the average joe.

 

[Godot25]

Thanks god.

Sorry, but if your console is selling like hotcakes and is expected to ship 100+ million consoles lifetime and you are okay with VR headset selling 5 million units, maybe market is indeed small.

Not to mention you would need to focus away your first party studios to make desirable content for that device which would be bad for their "normal" output.

But on the other hand, supporting third party headsets would not be a bad thing.

 

[K' Dash]

When the vr market does get big, sony will have a matured platform on their hands at the ready, and companies experienced with vr games.

When the market does get big

It will get as big as 3D TVs are now.

 

[K2D]

I'd much appreciate if the major platforms pooled together so that VR doesn't die out. There's enough potential users out there for atleast three platforms, but there is not enough worthwhile software, and the os interactions are not always as intuitive as can be.

And it can't say it enough. VR needs blockbusters to draw in casuals.

 

[Zug]

It's a shame, Starfield in VR would have been something, and It wouldn't even cost much to adapt : Skyrim VR and Fallout 4 VR ports were obviously done by a trainee on his spare time, yet these are still some of the best VR games out there (with a *little* help of mods, admittedly).

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Translation: we have enough problems at the moment and could not support a VR platform

Very disappointing, Starfield would be an awesome VR title

 

[DeepEnigma]

When the market does get big

It will get as big as 3D TVs are now.

It's already massively bigger than that.

 

[Fredrik]

Quest 3 will show up this year and sell millions

It’ll sell less millions than Quest 2. Quote me and throw this in my face in a year if I’m wrong.
There is no hype.