Is Microsoft already planning a gaming metaverse for Xbox?

(Pocket-lint) - Facebook precocious announced it's going all-in connected the metaverse concept, and adjacent went arsenic acold arsenic to alteration its institution sanction to Meta. Now, Microsoft has announced it is gathering its mentation of a metaverse for Teams, and it sounds similar it has besides started reasoning astir gaming and entertainment.

During an interrogation with Bloomberg TV, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his institution is fundamentally considering a gaming metaverse for Xbox. "You tin perfectly expect america to bash things successful gaming", said Nadella. "If you instrumentality Halo arsenic a game, it is simply a metaverse. Minecraft is simply a metaverse, and truthful is Flight Sim. In immoderate sense, they’re 2D today, and the question is tin you present instrumentality that to a afloat 3D world, and we perfectly program to bash so."

Imagine Microsoft, Halo, and Flight Sim arsenic afloat 3D worlds wherever players tin virtually research utilizing VR oregon AR headsets. Sure, Microsoft Flight Simulator already tries to bash that a spot - and it adjacent supports VR (as does Minecraft) - but Nadella seems to beryllium promising thing overmuch much here.

A metaverse is fundamentally a integer satellite filled with integer twins of people, places, and things - wherever avatars of radical tin virtually stitchery to communicate, play, and stock crossed immoderate device. Nadella hasn’t said erstwhile Microsoft volition participate the metaverse contention for gaming, but it sounds similar thing is underway.

At the moment, though, the institution besides seems chiefly focused connected endeavor uses of the metaverse, with avatars and virtual spaces for Teams meetings.

Writing by Maggie Tillman. Originally published connected 3 November 2021.