Xbox not interested in VR despite Sony’s success says Phil Spencer

The Xbox boss had praise for Sony, Oculus and Valve

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has praised Sony, Oculus and Valve for their strides in VR, but has reiterated that the company has no interest in joining the space.

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In a discussion as part of the Wall Street Journal’s WSJ Tech Live event, and transcribed by VGC, Spencer answered questions from viewers, including regarding if he had any plans for Xbox to join the VR race.

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“I think that when we think about immersion, we think about mixed reality, virtual reality, I’ll even take it to ‘metaverse’, which seems to be the buzzword of the day now,” Spencer answered.

“We’re big believers in that software platform and the devices that will enable that, absolutely,” he added. “[But] we’re focused a lot more on the software side of that right now. When I think about immersive worlds and I think about the connection of a player and community, that’s something that’s very high on our investment list.”

Xbox Series S
Xbox Series S. Credit: Microsoft

The term metaverse has been used more frequently recently, referring to games like Fortnite which combine properties and licenses from across media into one experience.

“I think the devices that are out there now, we stay connected with a lot of the players that are out there. [With] people building hardware, a lot of that happens on Windows and we experiment and talk to a lot of the partners that are there,” Spencer continued.

“I think that the hardware innovation that’s happening is great and it’s an important enabler, [but] right now I’m deciding to stay more in the software side of that enablement. I believe it will scale better in the long run.

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“And you know, I applaud what Sony’s doing, I applaud what Oculus is doing, what Valve has done. I mean, there’s a lot of good players out there that have done some amazing VR work.

“But yeah, we’re gonna stay as a company right now in the consumer space focused on software, and I think that’s a good bet.”

Elsewhere, the Hazard Zone game mode in Battlefield 2042 will feature smaller versions of the multiplayer maps from the game.

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