Earlier this week, Microsoft revealed that it was shutting down the Mixer streaming platform and instead partnering with Facebook Gaming. Could this mean big things for Xbox VR support finally through a relationship with Oculus owned by Facebook?
To understand the importance of what this could mean for Xbox and for virtual reality as a whole, it’s important to look back first and understand the past four years of broken promises and misleading marketing.
Microsoft’s frustrating Xbox VR story
During the Microsoft E3 2016 presentation, Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed the Scorpio Project, which later became Xbox One X. In that speech, he explicitly stated that the console would provide “real 4K games and high virtual reality fidelity. Real 4K images without sacrificing quality. Premier VR experiences without sacrificing performance. “
See for yourself:
It has promises of non-exclusivity deals, stable 90 fps for the VR console, and Microsoft’s mixed reality content for Xbox VR. In fact, Spencer went so far as to reconfirm that VR support was coming to Xbox One X in June 2017 (only five months before to the release console) and then did a to complete It turned 180 degrees four months later, in October 2017, just one month before launch, explaining that they didn’t want to “distract” developers.
The promises of virtual reality never materialized. The slogan “Hi-Fi VR” was plastered across the Scorpio Project website, at least until it suddenly disappeared, and since then Spencer has been stepping back.
In November 2019, Spencer was recorded saying that VR is too isolating and that “no one is asking for VR” outside of its consumer base. Sony’s own Shuhei Yoshida responded on Twitter in a rather shy way, saying:
（´-`） .｡ oO （We often work hard to do things that no client asks of them）
– Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) November 26, 2019
Then in February, after the Xbox Series X reveal, Spencer explained that he hopes Xbox VR becomes a “no-brainer”, but it won’t be there at launch even though the console is clearly powerful enough to support it well.
Meanwhile, in other areas of Microsoft, the Windows Mixed Reality VR platform continues and HoloLens is already in its second iteration, now shipping to anyone who wants to buy one for a few grand.
Windows VR headsets aren’t top-of-the-line in any way overall, but they certainly do the job as affordable entry points into a growing ecosystem with blockbuster titles like The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and Half-Life: Alyx (name just two of this year so far) apparently proving the opposite of Spencer’s argument. In addition to all it has, the Oculus Quest, a revolutionary success for independent wireless virtual reality, and the PSVR, Sony’s flagship immersive headset that is the market leader with millions of headsets sold and a stellar line of platform exclusives .
If “no one is asking for VR” as Spencer says, who is buying all these VR headsets and games?
Microsoft’s partnership with Facebook Gaming
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced the decision to shutdown its live streaming platform, Mixer. The service positioned itself as a direct competitor to Twitch with live broadcast channels and Internet personalities playing a wide variety of video games. Renowned streamers, like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, even signed multi-million dollar exclusivity deals with Microsoft to stream on Mixer, leaving Twitch behind, very recently. All of that seems to have been a waste of money.
Along with the Mixer news, came the news that Microsoft will partner with Facebook Gaming, a hybrid Facebook brand that encompasses not only live streaming and traditional video games, but also mobile-focused casual games that you can play on Facebook. Messenger with friends or on the mobile device. Microsoft application plans to use this association to replace the absence of Mixer and strengthen Project xCloud, its cloud-based game streaming service that is positioned in opposition to Google Stadia and PS Now.
The implications this partnership could have for cloud gaming are quite large: Two of the largest technology companies on the planet have partnered, which is quite surprising. But it’s much more exciting to think about what it could mean for Xbox VR.
