VR Is Too Small Right Now For Microsoft’s Attention

When it comes to the state of gaming, it’s quite massive. There are plenty of mediums to take on, whether you venture for a traditional console platform, PC, mobile devices, cloud gaming, to even VR. However, when it comes to virtual reality gaming, the market for that platform is just too small right now for Microsoft to warrant any interest in pursuing it. With that said, it doesn’t mean the folks over at Xbox are not keeping tabs on the media medium to see if they might pivot more attention to bringing a VR headset out into the marketplace. 

Recently, the head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, had an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. It was during this conversation that the topic of VR came up. The Hollywood Reporter noted that VR had seen an expansion but felt that Xbox might have taken this entertainment medium and tossed it on the back burner. According to Matt Booty, that is more or less what is going on right now. 

I think for us, it’s just a bit of wait until there’s an audience there. 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.

Matt Booty – The Hollywood Reporter

So if you were hopeful that Microsoft might have an answer to a VR headset compared to what we currently see in the marketplace today, you’re out of luck. That doesn’t mean Microsoft won’t ever get into VR, but as it stands right now, the market is just too small to warrant their time and effort in creating a peripheral. Meanwhile, there are other areas that Microsoft is experimenting with. 

Later in the interview, the topic of cloud gaming came up in which Matt Booty admitted the market is so small that you wouldn’t even call it a market. Instead, the focus has been experimenting with cloud gaming as it’s still in beta mode. But it’s all an effort right now to provide games to as many people as possible. It’s even allowing Xbox One players to enjoy the latest-generation Xbox Series X/S exclusives.

Of course, cloud gaming is only as good as your internet connection. So it will go back to infrastructure, and as that improves, we could see cloud gaming become a more mainstream medium to enjoy video games. The days of having actual hardware could soon become an option when gaming.