Even before the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2015 has begun, Facebook and Microsoft have announced a major deal. At the Oculus VR’s big ‘Step Into The Rift’ event held on Thursday, the two companies announced that the upcoming Windows 10 OS will stream Xbox One games to Oculus Rift.
Oculus Rift to work natively with Windows 10
It means if you have an Xbox One console, a Windows 10 PC and an Oculus Rift, you can enjoy Xbox games on a virtual screen. At the event, Xbox head Phil Spencer said the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift will support Windows 10, and will play Xbox One games.
Windows 10 has built-in Xbox functionality that would allow users to stream Xbox One games to Windows 10 PCs. Spencer said the Rift would natively work with Windows 10, meaning it would take the same game and put it on the virtual screen. He said Microsoft and Oculus have spent a lot of time perfecting it to ensure that the setup process is painless. The gaming experience is so wonderful that it “pays off people’s investment in their games.”
A win-win for both Windows 10 and the Rift
The partnership is crucial for both Microsoft and Facebook, which acquired Oculus for $2 billion last year. Oculus gets a major gaming platform, which would encourage developers to build for the Rift. Working with Microsoft would allow Oculus to compete better with Sony’s virtual reality headset Project Morpheus, which is expected to arrive on PlayStation 4 next year.
Windows 10 will benefit from the deal because Oculus’ computer requirements for the consumer version of Rift do not include Mac or Linux. The first generation Rift would require Windows 7 SP1 or higher. Since it will work natively with Windows 10, gaming fans will have a big reason to upgrade to Windows 10 or purchase a new Windows PC.
Windows 10 for PCs and tablets will be launched on July 29th, but it will arrive later on mobile devices.
