Phil Spencer: VR Not A Focus Of Next Xbox Because Customers Aren’t Interested

It seems like everyone is getting in on the VR craze in some form or the other. Sony blew the doors open with their PS VR, but multiple companies from Valve to Nintendo have dipped their toes in the water from the high end to the more affordable low end. Though, there is one major company who seems to have little interest in it: Microsoft. They didn’t even attempt anything major with VR this generation and of all the talks of what to expect for the next Xbox, from the hardware to how Play Anywhere will extend to the machine, not a bit of talk about VR. Why? Well, Phil Spencer has some blunt reasoning for why.

In an interview with Stevivor, Spencer pretty flatly said that the main reason for the lack of a VR push for Xbox was that he felt customers on Xbox just weren’t that interested in the technology in the same way fans of other products were. He just doesn’t think people see the VR as part of the Xbox brand.

“I have some issues with VR — it’s isolating and I think of games as a communal, kind of together experience. We’re responding to what our customers are asking for and… nobody’s asking for VR,” Spencer said. “The vast majority of our customers know if they want a VR experience, there’s places to go get those. We see the volumes of those on PC and other places.”

It’s interesting to think about, especially since VR seems to be finally catching a little bit of a stride. Well, if the technology does eventually catch fire, no doubt Microsoft will change their mind, but it seems for now they have no need for a headset.