The VR space is still very much a niche market right now, but it’s constantly seeing growth, thanks to major players who continue to invest in it. Where consoles are concerned, Sony has been leading the pack, even having confirmed recently that a PSVR 2 is in development for the PS5– but Microsoft has mostly chosen to ignore the burgeoning technology. Some recent evidence might be hinting at forthcoming changes, however.
Microsoft recently released a new peripheral for their Xbox consoles with the new Xbox Wireless Headset, and as reported by IGN Italy, the peripheral seems to have multiple references to VR headsets. While one of those could easily be crossed off as a mistake or coincidence, there seem to be several references that mention VR headsets explicitly, mostly in relation to headsets needing updates, or having updates that are available.
Given the fact that no VR support for Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S has been announced by Microsoft, this does raise some eyebrows. Last year, files were also found within Microsoft Flight Simulator that seemed to point to Xbox VR as well.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said in the past that Microsoft has chosen not to focus on VR because it’s not something that Xbox customers seem to be very interested in, though he has said since then that he hopes to see the technology grow to the extent that supporting it becomes a no-brainer for Microsoft.
It remains to be seen what these references found to VR headsets in the new Xbox peripheral amount to, but it’s certainly going to be worth keeping an eye on. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you posted on any new info that comes our way.