Phil Spencer thinks VR still has a long way to go

Interviews with Phil Spencer are always an interesting read, and he recently spoke with Stevivor about virtual reality. Virtual reality’s a growing force in both the gaming industry and elsewhere, and Microsoft recognizes that. Aside from the Hololens (which supports augmented reality), they’re also working with key partners (like HP and Asus) to bring affordable VR to the masses.

The Xbox Scorpio’s also going to support VR in some form – be it a Microsoft produced headset or otherwise – but it isn’t known when. When asked about his thoughts on VR in general, Spencer had three words to say: “I don’t know”. He mentioned owning both an Oculus Rift and an HTC Vive, as well as trying out PlayStation VR, but he isn’t completely sold yet.

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. It’s so early, I think we’re a couple of years before we’ll really see that hit mainstream.

While his main issue with virtual reality might be software side, he was quick to reaffirm that it’s still going to be part of the Xbox’s future. He mentioned that Scorpio is designed as a VR capable console, but it’s currently unknown when VR will actually reach it – be it “this year, next year, or the year after”.

Spencer thinks virtual reality will eventually be perfected, just like motion controls on the Kinect. After a certain period of time games moved from experiments to more complete projects, and it looks like the same situation might be happening right now.

What do you think about the current state of VR? Let us know in the comments below!