Many people that have an Xbox one want to know which headset to buy or maybe confused about compatibility. I too had questions about this, so I did some research and found everything you need to know.
Virtual Reality is not available through the Xbox One. Although the Playstation VR headset can be connected, the view will be that of looking at a tv screen in virtual reality instead of the desired three-dimensional effect.
Continue reading to learn more how to get by with a PlayStation headset as well as about the future of VR for Xbox. We will also dive into why Microsoft hasn’t jumped into this market yet.
The Only Headset That Works With Xbox One
There is a way to get a form of virtual reality working on the Xbox one, but it is really not anything to be impressed about. Although you might be able to hook a headset up to the Xbox, the fact is the viewing will not be at all how you would hope it would be.
Using the PSVR headset with an Xbox One
Some people use their Playstation VR headset and console to run Xbox Games in VR, but as mentioned, this is not true virtual reality.
People around the world have learned of the capabilities of the PlayStation VR. Playstation VR has the ability to play any video coming from an HDMI in what they call “Cinema Mode”.
This is not virtual reality as you understand it, despite being inside a VR headset.
Imagine being in a dark room with a large video screen running an Xbox. Although you are in a virtual environment, the games are still just as 2 dimensional as they are on your normal TV.
Many of the stand-alone devices run this way when they are streaming youtube or Netflix.
The Xbox One is not running any sort of virtual reality, in fact, you still need a PlayStation 4 to run this mode at all.
The only situation I could see this as being useful is if you don’t want the light of the TV to bother anybody at night and you conveniently have both consoles as well as the PlayStation virtual reality headset.
In order to get this going, you need to plug your Xbox One HDMI output into the box that comes with the PlayStation VR but plug the USB of the VR into the Playstation 4 while it is one.
As you can see, using a VR headset on an Xbox one might be somewhat possible, but it just isn’t practical or fun.
Xbox One VR: Why doesn’t it exist?
The Xbox One is one of the best selling consoles ever created, and for some, it might be a little baffling that they have yet to release a compatible headset. It sure was for me!
Although some people have found a workaround, Xbox one has many reasons it cannot and will not run VR anytime soon.
Virtual reality has many different levels, and to understand why Xbox One cannot have virtual reality you need to understand these levels.
Level one: Mobile Phone VR
Yes, your phone can probably run virtual reality with the help of a simple headset like the Google Daydream. Although it is fun, virtual reality for mobile phones is very simple and isn’t practical for any substantial amount of time.
An Xbox does have the processing power to run this kind of VR, but they would be doing themselves a great injustice. This would be like playing mobile games on your Xbox. Imagine spending several hundreds of dollars on the Xbox One VR headset to find that you can only play a glorified version of candy crush. Microsoft wasn’t about to do that!
Level two: Standalone VR
Standalone virtual reality is pretty great. You can only understand just how incredible it is once you have experienced it.
That being said, standalone VR is designed more as a device to watch 360-degree videos as well as stream services like Netflix. There are some really rudimentary games, but for the most part, these are not gaming headsets. They simply just don’t have the processing power because they aren’t hooked up to a console or PC.
Some headsets in this category are designed to be used in businesses like real estate, medicine, and education. (Oculus Go is a great example of this).
Xbox couldn’t dabble in this level of virtual reality because these headsets aren’t powered by consoles, all the hardware, processing, and graphics they need are in the headset itself.
Level three: Playstation VR
I am a huge fan of PlayStation VR, and so is most of the world. Most people that own virtual reality headsets have one of these.
They are cheap, easy to use, and accessible since the PlayStation is much cheaper than its counterparts. It runs full-blown games like Skyrim and beat saber, but quite as well as a PC does. Many people report that they get really motion sick in this headset because of the low refresh rate as well as low resolution.
This category is where Xbox VR would fit, but they will not try it for a few different reasons. The main reason being that PlayStation has already taken most of the market share. They hopped on the VR train and quickly and beat Xbox to the punch.
Even if you prefer Xbox titles, most people will not go out and buy another headset if they already have one. Microsoft knows this, so releasing a headset now wouldn’t be very lucrative. Most of the people that wanted this generation of virtual reality headsets already have one.
The only way for Microsoft to beat Sony at this point is to release a headset that is much better than the Playstation VR, and that is level 4. As you read on you will see why they can’t do that, at least not yet.
Level four: High-end VR (PCs)
PC virtual reality is the reigning champ in terms of quality. It takes a computer that costs over $1000 USD to run one of these headsets, and it shows in their resolution, accuracy, and overall experience. I have owned a VR capable PC for over a year now, and it puts the rest to shame, even PlayStation VR.
An Xbox One simply does not have the hardware to run this type of headset, so it cannot compete in this space. The Xbox One X could potentially handle it, but Microsoft knows they missed the timing on this generation.
Unless Microsoft made an upgraded version of the Xbox one with a ton more processing power, we aren’t going to seem them in this category for a long time.
Xbox Virtual Reality’s history
Microsoft being the large company that it is was definitely looking into being a large player in the virtual reality gaming space. They even said that they were in the process of coming out with their own headset.
One of the first big steps into virtual reality was Microsoft Hololens, which is an augmented reality headset designed for business.
You can check out the video for the Hololens 2 in the video below:
With the development of windows virtual reality, we know that Microsoft has Virtual reality on their mind, so why haven’t they come out with a headset for their flagship gaming console?
Although many of the new Xbox systems could run a virtual reality headset, their earlier models would not be able to handle it and therefore they wouldn’t be able to produce a headset that is a one size fits all.
The worst thing Microsoft could have done is to release a headset that only works on some of their current systems. It was a good move to not go down that path.
Unlike Sony who designed their Playstation 4 with virtual reality in mind, Microsoft released their system with low specs and slowly released better models with increased graphics processing.
Although it was a great business model because it drove their hardcore customers to purchase multiple systems out of a need for better hardware, it severely limited them in the virtual reality space.
The Future for Virtual Reality on Xbox One
Microsoft has stated that they have no specific plans in regards to Xbox consoles getting a VR headset.
Although we would all love to see Microsoft release one, I do not see them doing it any time soon. The fact of the matter is that they wouldn’t be bringing anything new to the table, and they wouldn’t make enough money with PlayStation already dominating the market for that level of virtual reality.
Microsoft has shown that they value the current development of virtual reality headsets on the windows platform, and continue to heavily support the development of high-end PC headsets like the Oculus Rift line as well as the popular line of headsets that HTC produces.
Although the Xbox One X has the processing power, Microsoft is well aware of the state of the market. They know that they wouldn’t make their investment back in time for the next generation of consoles.
We all know where gaming is headed
Everybody is well aware that virtual reality is going to take over gaming in the coming years. Movies like Ready Player One are coming out more and more often.
Microsoft knows this, and I can almost guarantee that they have plans for VR on their Xbox consoles, but they are waiting for the moment when the technology and the market are ready for their version of virtual reality for the console.