During a pre-E3 press conference, Oculus announced a partnership with Microsoft today.
One of the biggest announcements from that partnership will come in the form of a wireless Xbox One controller being bundled with every Oculus Rift.
While the Oculus Rift is a virtual-reality headset made to play virtual reality video games, input via another device, be it keyboard & mouse or controller, has always been required. The partnership with Microsoft is big news for both companies since this will make accessibility even greater to those who prefer using a controller, especially one as familiar as the Xbox One controller. While Microsoft’s direct competitor in the console space, Sony PlayStation, has decided to create its own peripheral, Project Morpheus, where virtual reality headsets are concerned, it appears Microsoft would rather partner with another company who is already leading the charge in the field of VR gaming.
Also as part of the partnership between Oculus and Microsoft, games that players stream from their Xbox One to Windows 10 PC will also support the Oculus Rift.
Several games were also announced exclusively for the Rift, including Chroma and Edge of Nowhere.
Last month, Microsoft announced a new Xbox One controller that will be at E3 that includes the addition of a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Following that, Microsoft also announced a 1 TB SKU for the Xbox One that will include said new controller.