Who Will Microsoft Partner with for VR?

[Shadowmask72]

Project Scorpio ups the ante with raw console power and yet Microsoft have stated they won't be developing their own VR headset (they are committed to Hololens). They are in discussions with Oculus and HTC and perhaps other developers of HMD we don't know about. Who will they partner with? Will it be just one or all?

[Shadowmask72]

For me, I really hope they will have an open system because then anyone can jump in and Xbox gamers have some choice as to what HMD they choose (considering Microsoft are all about choices). However, there's a certain relationship with Oculus they have and they might just go with that.

[bigmike20vt]

MS console with an open VR system? I would love it but I would say NO chance, zero, zilch!.

look at how they are locking down windows 10 games, and historically they have never let 3rd party non licenced hardware work. (Sony have been a little better in that regard)

Given the relationship MS have with valve, i think you can forget the vive, which then leaves the rift or someone from left field.

[RobHermans]

I imagine Micosoft will go wherever there's the most profit to be made. That tends to be the biggest companies with the most money. I'm no expert, but it's likely that Facebook has more money than any other player in the  VR field.

[Shadowmask72]

Just to add more to this. Palmer Lucky said this to Jeff G from Giantbomb 

Jeff: "Do you think the Oculus Rift will work with the next Xbox One hardware?"

Palmer: We have a really good partnership with Microsoft. There's the controller that we've bundled with the Rift, but also Minecraft is on GearVR and on Rift. We've worked with them on a lot of different optimizations that allow us to make for a better Rift experience on PC.. So we get along really well with them, we have a really strong relationship. But I'm not gonna announce anything on this couch today, even if there was any truth that's not gonna happen.

[ThreeDeeVision]

I voted Oculus because they seem to have already invested quite a bit on that platform with the XBone controller, advertising the XBone streaming to a Virtual theater, ect...

If they are smart they will leave it open and support any major HMD though.  No sense in turning away possible customers.

[mambo1888]

Im going to say it will be open to either headsets as it will give them a much larger market than going with just one. They have already worked with Oculus and have the xbox controller already part of the CV1, but they are also demoing the Vive in their stores in the US.

Might just be wishful thinking on my part though, but id hope since they wont be providing their own VR headset they will allow either. 

[jon]

They'll partner with Oculus, and use essentially the same Rift HMD and Touch controllers as are available on the PC.  The inclusion of the Xbox controller with the Rift will see that controller as a common developer target for both the Xbox and PC Rift, and the similarity of Touch with the Xbox controller presents a familiar control scheme for Xbox users.  That 'extra Xbox controller' some complained about which shipped with the Rift might well look brilliant in retrospect.

The default dual front camera setup of the Rift is far more inline with Microsoft's Kinect setup, and it wouldn't surprise me if the tracking were somehow done instead or in conjuction with Kinect.  This would also bring parity between Xbox, PS and Oculus on a largely front-facing tracked VR experience in this first generation, with Vive remaining the outlier focusing on 360 degree tracking in their default setup.

Software-wise I'm not sure how it will be handled.  I suspect Oculus would prefer to make Oculus Home available as an app or channel within the default Microsoft store, while Microsoft would rather not distinguish VR purchases from non-VR purchases.  The negotiations on this point would be fascinating to eavesdrop on, I think.  It makes sense to use an activate-on-hmd-use Oculus Home application as a launch pad for VR applications, and that functionality doesn't currently exist in the Microsoft store.  Certainly, with Oculus' experience delivering a different kind of Oculus Home for the Gear VR, they're better positioned and likely more palatable to Microsoft than trying to integrate the larger Steam ecosystem into the Xbox.

Finally, it's not just Oculus that's interested in getting on the Xbox and Microsoft that's interested in having a VR headset to compete with PS:VR... there's also the Facebook factor.  Assuming Facebook makes a full press into social VR sometime in 2017, pairing Rift with the Xbox gives Xbox users access to whatever the Facebook social network offers as well as giving Facebook access to Xbox users.  In an age where Twitch livestreaming is so popular, you can imagine how crazy Xbox livestreaming (VR or otherwise) through Facebook's social network might be.

Final thought -

Imagine sitting down on your couch or at your PC, putting on your VR headset and playing Halo (or whatever game you prefer), not immersed in a first person view as one might initially assume, but in a virtual living room along side two or three of your friends in disparate locations.  You'd essentially be having a cross-platform virtual LAN party where you can chat real time with your friends while you play together.  This isn't new, as you can currently do this to some extent with Big Screen's beta, but bringing it to the ease of a console is powerful.  Not into games?  How about watching a movie on Netflix with your friend in another state while sitting in a virtual movie theater instead?

There's a *lot* more to a potiential partnership between Microsoft/Xbox and Facebook/Oculus than meets the eye.

[mambo1888]

I think it would be an odd decision for Microsoft to sell HTC Vive's in their store's if they planned on only using Oculus with Xbox. I think the use of Kinect along with VR could have excellent potential though, was hoping there will be a way to implement it with PC VR at some point, my Kinect 2.0 has sat in a cupboard for pretty much all its life. Was a bit disappointed after how they went on about it on the build up to launch but then have never really done anything with it.

[GenetixStudio]

I voted 'Open System' - but that is because I think it will support the Rift and Vive. I doubt it will be open to the PSVR, StarVR, OSVR, and many others (gear, daydream, mobile, etc...)