Phil Spencer Clarifies VR Comments After Sony’s Disappointed Reaction

Microsoft’s EVP at gaming Phil Spencer has shared a new comment about virtual reality after an interview with Stevivor had sparked some controversy, leading to Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida disappointed reply on social media.

Microsoft’s EVP at gaming Phil Spencer has shared a new comment about virtual reality after an interview with Stevivor sparked controversy, leading to Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida disappointed reply on social media.

Spencer stated that Xbox customers are not asking VR support for Project Scarlett, and he has not had good impressions about the technology as it is something allegedly isolating for video gamers while his vision of the medium is “communal.”

In a new comment on Twitter, the Xbox boss has added that reactions to the original interview have proved to be “fair feedback,” and that I’ve said publically, I love how our industry has pioneered: AI, physics, 3D, RT, VR/AR, etc.”

“For us, it’s about focus on our innovations right now. I’ve played some great VR games, I got to play Half-Life: Alyx in the summer, amazing. It’s just not our focus with Scarlett,” he clarified about his experiences with virtual reality, which he had said he has “some issues with VR.”

Fair feedback. I’ve said publically, I love how our industry has pioneered: AI, physics, 3D, RT, VR/AR etc. For us, it’s about focus on our innovations right now. I’ve played some great VR games, I got to play HL:Alyx in the summer, amazing. It’s just not our focus with Scarlett

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) November 27, 2019

Valve recently announced Half-Life: Alyx and is scheduled to launch in March 2020. The game is expected to be a potential milestone for virtual reality gaming since it is coming from a famed developer and a popular series, although Cyberpunk 2077‘s CD Projekt RED still believes that VR is a “nichey niche.”

This approach to the technology is different from Sony’s, which has been one of the early investors in virtual reality with PlayStation VR. Facebook also sees it entirely differently, heavily investing in Oculus’ hardware and software, and has recently acquired Beat Saber‘s developer to build more VR experiences.