Xbox One Head Says No VR For Scorpio, Needs More Than ‘Demos And Experiments’

Practically every modern gaming and computer company in the industry are jumping on the virtual reality bandwagon, with the PlayStation 4 VR being one of the most promising prospects in the market right now. However, it would seem that the upcoming Project Scorpio for the Xbox One is not going to come with direct VR support from the makers, Xbox head Phil Spencer said. It’s going to be VR-capable and players can use the Oculus Rift to play, but Microsoft itself won’t be providing a headset or peripherals.

In a recent interview with Australian news media Stevivor, Spencer said that the VR industry is still far too young for the Microsoft console to bet on. The Scorpio will be capable of playing VR games and demos, but users will have to make do with the Rift in order to take advantage of the feature.

“I don’t think the creators in the game space have yet found – well, they haven’t obviously perfected the craft of building VR games,” Spencer said during the interview. “…What experiences do you put in people’s hands to have a long-term engagement? Most of these things I’m playing now feel like demos and experiments, which I actually think it’s absolutely the right thing to have happened. That’s not a criticism at all, but should be happening. But I think it will take time.”

Spencer also noted the similarities between the Kinect peripheral for the Xbox and VR, Forbes reports. The former was innovative in terms of gaming technology as well, but it never really caught on beyond niche titles like “Dance Central.” The dance simulation really jived well with the Kinect, thus making it a perfect fit for players who like that kind of game.

As for VR, developers just haven’t come up with a really appealing game that would really hook players. Once studios reach a point where they get a handle on the new technology, Spencer says that they’ll go back and consider creating a VR setup for their console.