XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

JANUARY 5, 2024

This week saw Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Qualcomm, Meta, and Sony move to optimize their product offerings and business operations. Last year, Microsoft also shut down its long-standing Metaverse platform Altspace VR, transferring some of its development team to its Mesh platform.

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VRScout

APRIL 7, 2017

The latest Smurfs film gets it’s own mixed reality children’s game for Microsoft’s HoloLens. Sony’s latest edition to the Smurf reboot anthology, Smurfs: The Lost Village hits theaters today once again bringing the iconic 80’s characters back from the dead much to the delight of children and nostalgic adults everywhere.

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Road to VR

MARCH 17, 2021

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.

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Digital Trends

MARCH 4, 2022

Sony has pulled Gran Turismo 7 in Russia, while Microsoft is suspending all sales of new products and services.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JUNE 13, 2017

We’ve seen a routinely strong showing for the tech at the games industry’s biggest event over the past few years, but it hasn’t yet truly dominated the conversation. Press conferences have been light on jaw dropping announcements and games are running a little thin on originality and inspiration.

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Road to VR

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

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. I've played some great VR games, I got to play HL:Alyx in the summer, amazing.

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 1, 2021

Image by Sony). Sony officially states it is going to launch the PSVR 2. PlayStation VR has been the most successful headset until now (if we exclude the crappy mobile viewers), but now it is pretty dated and people were wondering what Sony was going to do. Some people started to think that Sony could have abandoned VR.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

As usual, Microsoft is firing first with its press conference this E3, but it’s doing so even earlier than anticipated. This E3 is shaping up to be the biggest batle between Sony and Microsoft since 2013, the year where each had to convince gamers to buy a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One respectively.

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 21, 2021

Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). Sony unveils the new controllers of the PSVR2. One month after the reveal of a “next-gen VR headset for the Playstation” (whose name is not known, but I guess it will be PSVR2), Sony has revealed one important detail of its new VR system: the controllers. It will so have inside-out tracking.

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XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

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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Road to VR

JUNE 22, 2023

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.

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Road to VR

AUGUST 21, 2019

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. Image courtesy Insomniac Games. Image courtesy Insomniac Games. SEE ALSO Xbox Game Studios Has (inadvertently?)

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The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 7, 2021

Image by Microsoft). Microsoft Teams to integrate Mesh in 2022. With a surprise move, Microsoft has announced that in 2022 it will integrate Microsoft Mesh, its framework to create shared XR experiences, inside Microsoft Teams. And if they have these features from Microsoft, they won’t need to get them from Meta.

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GizModo VR

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

Sony acquired Bungie on Monday in yet another colossal acquisition between two gaming giants. While the advantages of owning a triple-A developer with a popular IP would seem obvious, the specifics of the deal have led to questions about Sony’s strategy in the intensifying war against Xbox. Read more.

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Road to VR

OCTOBER 14, 2019

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).

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Slashgear

APRIL 20, 2022

It looks like Microsoft may not be the only company exploring in-game ads. Sources claim Sony has similar plans for its PlayStation platform.

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GizModo VR

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

He might not have as recognizable a name as corporate executives from companies like Apple and Microsoft, but next month, Sony will be saying goodbye to Masayasu Ito , who led the hardware development on the PS4 , the PS5, and some of the company’s other notable gaming devices. Read more.

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XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

MAY 16, 2023

European Union (EU) regulators have backed the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard acquisition, the European Commission revealed on Monday. If successful, the deal has set a precedent for Microsoft to become the largest gaming buyout in history. With our clearance #Activition Blizzard’s games will also be available on cloud.

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GizModo VR

JANUARY 18, 2022

Microsoft is acquiring gaming giant Activision Blizzard in a deal worth just shy of $69 billion—which the Xbox owner says will allow it to gain access to hundreds of millions of gamers and position it as “the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.” Read more.

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The Ghost Howls

DECEMBER 26, 2023

PS Remember that there is an ongoing giveaway of physical copies of the Sam&Max game for PSVR for all people in North America! But unluckily, their tracking performance was bad, especially for what concerns controllers, the manufacturing quality was debatable, and especially Microsoft never invested enough into dedicated content.

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GizModo VR

AUGUST 16, 2022

With its recent high profile PC releases of formerly exclusive games like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn , Sony seems to be making a shift to marketing its video game arm as a hybrid console-PC company.

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ARPost

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

The ecosystem of digital game development is all about using the latest technologies to attract and engage gamers all over the world. Games, as one of the prime sources of entertainment, could be more prominent by becoming more interactive and immersive. Some VR Gaming Market Trends Which Determine Its Consistent Growth.

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Road to VR

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

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.

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The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

(Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). Sony announces price and release date for PSVR 2. Sony Interactive Entertainment has finally announced that PSVR 2 will be launched on February 22nd, 2023 for $549. The collaboration between Microsoft and Samsung is now over. What will be important, anyway, will be the content.

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GizModo VR

JANUARY 31, 2022

Sony is acquiring Bungie for a reported $3.6 billion in the latest move of what has been a string of blockbuster purchases within the gaming industry. Read more.

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Road to VR

JUNE 22, 2018

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?

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XR Today - Virtual Reality

APRIL 26, 2023

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.

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Road to VR

JUNE 18, 2019

A year ago, in response to Sony consistently delivering high-quality exclusives for PS4, Microsoft made a commitment to rejuvenating its first-party game development efforts and went on a shopping spree, acquiring a handful of respected studios to bolster its first-party game development talent under the Xbox Game Studios banner.

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GizModo VR

MARCH 29, 2022

Sony is finally making a run at Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service with a new version of PlayStation Plus. Read more.

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VRScout

MARCH 3, 2017

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.

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GizModo VR

JUNE 22, 2022

Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Sony, and other tech giants have formed a group designed to ensure interoperability in the metaverse. Notably absent from this list of heavyweights is Apple, a company heavily rumored to be working on its own mixed reality products. Read more.

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Road to VR

MAY 4, 2021

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. And though Epic hasn’t made any VR games since then, it seems that in 2018 it was still ready and willing.

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The Ghost Howls

MAY 30, 2023

Top news of the week (Image by Brad Lynch) Bloomberg got a preview of the Quest 3 Last week I predicted that Meta could have given us a glimpse of the Quest 3 during the Gaming Showcase on June, 1st, so that to create attention around its device before the announcement of the Apple headset.

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Digital Trends

MARCH 2, 2022

Russia's vice prime minister singled out Microsoft and Sony in a message, though it appeals to game development companies and esports platforms in general.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

MAY 19, 2017

For Microsoft it’s the Halo and Gears of War games. But for Sony, it’s changed with each console generation. Most of those games wouldn’t really be that great of a fit for VR you’d think. They’re all third-person action games. “So this is 2009, 2010,” Marks said.

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Road to VR

OCTOBER 8, 2019

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. The artwork in the patent clearly suggests a living room environment where the VR experience is powered by a game console. Image courtesy Microsoft.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

FEBRUARY 11, 2017

Each will likely come under examination in a few weeks’ time at the Game Developers Conference, so let’s set the record straight on each approach right now. As wonderful a headset as PSVR is, Sony’s approach to VR is probably the most incidental, not that that’s necessarily a bad thing.

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