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Now two more heavyweights, Microsoft and Sony, have joined the Alliance for OpenUSD in support of Universal Scene Description (USD) as the future of authoring and packaging complex 3D content. In addition to Apple, Microsoft and Sony join other members of the group with significant ties to the XR industry, like Meta and Epic Games.
This week on Reality Bytes, we discuss ChatGPT’s partnership with Microsoft, travel to the Metaverse with Sony and Manchester City, and tune into the YouTube vs. TikTok short-form video battle. This post appeared first on AR Insider.
Microsoft today announced that it’s entered into an agreement to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of game studio Bethesda Softworks. I think Microsoft has been a good parent company for gaming IPs, and they don’t have a grudge against me, so maybe I will be able to re engage with some of my old titles.
Microsoft announced it’s planning to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the studio will play a key role in the development of its future metaverse platforms. Xbox doesn’t feature any form of official VR compatibility, not even with its range of Microsoft Mixed Reality headsets.
Top news of the week (Image by Microsoft) Microsoft lays off 10,000 employees and shuts down its mixed reality projects This is seriously a bad period for the tech industry in general, and of course also for mixed reality. For sure, not having Microsoft backing it will slow down a lot of its development.
Australian publication Stevivor recently sat down with Xbox head Phil Spencer to broach the subject of whether or not the company’s upcoming next-gen console would be matching Sony’s continued VR ambitions with PlayStation 5. The post Microsoft Affirms VR Isn’t a Focus for Xbox Scarlett appeared first on Road to VR.
Despite being among the early supporters of the OpenXR consortium—the industry group building the open standard for XR devices—Sony so far seems to have avoided making a specific commitment to implement OpenXR on PSVR or its next-gen headset. Sony, however, remains an odd one out. After years of development, the OpenXR 1.0
Microsoft says however that the error message was inaccurate, and that VR for Xbox is still not a happening. Some prognosticated that Microsoft has mistakenly leaked VR support for Xbox, something it has repeatedly rebuked in the past. This tracks with Microsoft’s long-term stance on VR for Xbox consoles going back to Xbox One.
Amid mounting pressure from Sony with the recent launch of its PSVR 2 headset for PlayStation 5, Microsoft again affirmed that it’s still waiting for the technology to mature before offering any sort of dedicated VR software or hardware for Xbox. “I think for us, it’s just a bit of wait until there’s an audience there. .”
The OpenXR API is a core piece behind many XR headsets from vendors such as Acer, ByteDance, Canon, HTC, Magic Leap, Meta, Microsoft, Sony, XREAL, Qualcomm, Valve, and Varjo.
Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). Sony unveils the new controllers of the PSVR2. Sony promises amazing haptic sensations on the controllers, that should be able to provide “impactful, textured, and nuanced” sensations. Image by Microsoft). Top news of the week. It will so have inside-out tracking.
Sony Corporation announced today that it will invest $250 million in Epic Games, the company well known for its hit game Fortnite and the Unreal Engine game engine that powers it. It’s the “convergence of gaming, film, and music” part which speaks to where the long-term synergies between Sony and Epic lie.
Sony branded its standalone headset XYN, and we went hands-on with the latest prototype. UploadVR's Don Hopper is on site at CES 2025, and attended Sony's formal announcement of its XYN headset, pronounced "zin", which the company still describes as a prototype.
Ginza Sony Park, the Japanese tech giant’s Tokyo-based hub for Sony brand promotion, is now playing host to a new Ghostbusters -themed multiplayer experience using a newly revealed Sony AR headset prototype. And yes, they’re shooting proton energy from their hands. Otherwise you can sign up here (Japanese).
We haven’t had the E3 where Sony doesn’t shut up about VR like it once did 3D, for example, nor the E3 where it seems like everyone and their mothers are making VR games like they once were mobile or motion controlled experiences. It was Microsoft that dropped the ball the hardest.
Khronos Group , the consortium behind the OpenXR project which aims to standardize the way applications communicate with AR and VR headsets, just added Microsoft to its ranks. Among its count of members, the OpenXR working group consisted of nearly every major player in the industry except Microsoft until now.
With the curious case of Microsoft initially announcing VR support for Xbox One X and then later pulling the plug before launch, it wasn’t clear if the company would use its next console as its opportunity to finally jump into VR. Meanwhile, Sony has already confirmed support for PSVR on PS5, and hinted at plans for a next-gen headset.
Back at E3 2016, Microsoft’s Head of Xbox Phil Spencer announced on stage that the Xbox One X (then ‘Project Scorpio’) would become the industry’s next VR-compatible console, positioning the platform to compete with Sony’s PSVR with what Spencer called “high fidelity VR.” Trouble in paradise?
The glasses should work with Google Gemini AI and have the following features: Processors : Snapdragon AR1 and NXP Camera : 12MP with Sony IMX681 Battery : 155mAh Weight : 50 grams The first batch of production should be around 500,000 units , with more to come if the glasses prove to be successful.
.” Will Microsoft Join The Effort? The current collection of partners is dominated by those more involved in VR, including names like Sony, Oculus, Google, and more. The current collection of partners is dominated by those more involved in VR, including names like Sony, Oculus, Google, and more.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced Monday that the company is acquiring Insomniac Games, a storied game studio and one of the most experienced in VR development anywhere in the world. In that sense, this was a pretty good move for Sony on the VR front. Image courtesy Insomniac Games. SEE ALSO Xbox Game Studios Has (inadvertently?)
At least from the outside, it appears Microsoft isn’t actively competing for a seat at the XR table, which is fairly odd coming from a company that pioneered enterprise AR while simultaneously wrangling some of its top OEM partners to make a fleet of PC VR headsets for consumers in 2017. If Microsoft goes in half-cocked, maybe.
A Microsoft patent application for a ‘virtual reality floor mat’ describes a special mat which defines a virtual playspace and can be used for tracking. SEE ALSO Next-gen Xbox Revealed with No VR in Sight, Sony Forges Ahead with PSVR on PS5. Microsoft’s virtual reality mat patent application is a curious one.
For Microsoft it’s the Halo and Gears of War games. But for Sony, it’s changed with each console generation. So it was this grassroots thing at Sony – a lot of engineers liked VR and wanted to do something with VR. Tagged with: god of war , sony santa monica Facebook Twitter Reddit More.
In an era where Sony appears to have a significant lead in console sales already, and with PSVR sharpening the system’s competitive edge, pressure is mounting for Microsoft to figure out its Xbox VR strategy. Gamespot reports Sony’s latest PS4 sales figures (including both PS4 and PS4 Pro) at a whopping 67.5
Image courtesy Sony Japan Studio. Featuring the cute bots first seen in The Playroom (2013) , Sony Japan Studio’s upcoming platformer Astro Bot Rescue Mission uses similar controls and gameplay mechanics as any other 3D platformer, but it has been created from the ground up with VR in mind. Image courtesy Sony.
Epic Games, the creators of Unreal Engine, said it would consider building a launch title for Sony’s “next VR platform” during negotiations about Fortnite cross-play on PlayStation in 2018. With the company’s next VR headset not expected to launch until at least 2022, it’s unclear if the Sony took up the offer.
A terrible Microsoft Flight Simulator ripoff took #1 in Europe's PlayStation VR2 download charts for March, and #4 in the US. But trying the game on PS VR2, we found it falls well short of what you'd expect from a game sold on Sony's platform, and it currently sits at a 1.38-star star rating on the PlayStation Store.
If you're unaware, while PS VR2 supports PC VR through Sony's official SteamVR driver, the headset currently lacks its standout features on PC, including eye tracking, HDR, headset rumble, and adaptive triggers, though the developer of Cactus Cowboy got the triggers working back in September.
More info (PSVR 2 sales — Road To VR) More info (PSVR 2 sales — Upload VR) Sony announces many new pieces of content at its Gaming Showcase A few days ago, Sony held its Gaming Showcase event, where it announced some cool pieces of content arriving for PSVR 2. In the meanwhile, Microsoft is working on a 1.1
Meanwhile, Sony is effectively dominating the console VR space with the Playstation VR. Microsoft’s Xbox, on the other hand, has remained continuously skeptical of VR technology and its place within modern entertainment. “I Image Credit: Microsoft Xbox. Even Nintendo has gotten in on the action via Nintendo Labo VR.
More info (Mentra and Vuzix partner on AugmentOS) More info (AugmentOS official website) News worth a mention (Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment) PSVR 2 had great holiday sales numbers Thanks to the huge price discount from $550 to $350, the sales of PSVR 2 had a huge boost in 2024.
Hero view of PSVR 2 (Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). I said that the winner of the 2016 match has been HTC, but actually, the real winner of the tethered headset market at that time has been Sony , with the PSVR headset exploiting the existing Playstation 4 userbase to sell more devices than the others.
Microsoft is showing some commitment to the idea of Windows Mixed Reality (formally known as Windows Holographic) with not just a single headset, but with five headsets. Back in February, Sony announced that they sold 915,000 PlayStation VR headsets since it launched in mid-October, while Microsoft focused on their HoloLens MR headset.
You can access it at this link: [link] ) Top news of the week (Image by Microsoft) Microsoft kills Windows Mixed Reality Microsoft has decided to pull the plug on the Windows Mixed Reality platform , the one of the WMR headsets by Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung which were the first to introduce inside-out tracking in the VR ecosystem.
Mojang, the Microsoft-owned studio behind Minecraft , announced it’s dropping support for the original PSVR next year, leaving any hope for PSVR 2 support firmly at (bed)rock bottom. Then, there’s Mojang’s parent company Microsoft, which has been fairly wary of VR gaming in general over the years.
The layoff round comes amid two high-profile projects currently in production by the studio: Zombie Army VR , a VR shooter based on the popular franchise from Rebellion, and Starship Troopers: Continuum , an online co-cop shooter created in partnership with Sony—announced just a day before news of the layoffs first broke.
At Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing, the company’s event this year was all about the mid-generation Xbox hardware powerhouse formerly known as Project Scorpio. At Microsoft’s Xbox briefing at E3 2017, the company announced that the new console will arrive on November 7th around the world.
Today, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which provides the “ building blocks ” for its Metaverse. Microsoft first announced its acquisition in 2022.
“Big tech companies, rather than smartphone manufacturers, are leading XR devices because they have the necessary content and platforms,” said Kim Gwang-soo, an analyst at eBest Investment and Securities, adding, “Google has an operating system Android, Microsoft has Xbox and Sony has PlayStation.
.” The so-called Metaverse Standards Forum was founded by platform holders, hardware companies, engine/tool creators, and users, with participants including companies such as Adobe, Autodesk, Epic Games, Unity, Meta, Microsoft, nVidia, OTOY, Qualcomm, and Sony. ” Image courtesy Metaverse Standards Forum.
Oculus’ whirlwind Kickstarter success led many to believe that established entertainment companies such as Sony, Microsoft, or even tech giant Google might look to buy the company, but Facebook’s decisive choice wasn’t something anyone could have predicted. Image Credit: Benjamin Formaker-Olivas.
PlayStation VR 2 Logo (Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). Qualcomm and Microsoft partnership. Qualcomm and Microsoft have announced a partnership to push together the next-generation lightweight AR glasses. Qualcomm and Microsoft partnership (Road To VR). Click to read the thread on Twitter… it is worth it.
Japanese electronics giant Sony recently bought out Beyond Sports, allowing the former to build massive metaverse content for sporting events. Beyond Sports develops real-world data for 3D animations, and its technologies will seamlessly integrate with Sony’s growing portfolio of immersive solutions. it announced this week.
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