Game On: What’s the way forward for VR, AR, MR, and XR?

Microsoft had recently laid off its Mixed Reality Toolkit team

Hyderabad: The last fortnight has ushered in grim news for enthusiasts of augmented and virtual reality with Microsoft shuttering its Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) team and the lower-than-expected pre-orders for Sony’s PSVR2.

These developments have caused several observers of the gaming industry to wonder if the ‘upcoming’ financial crisis will prevent platforms and technologies that enable augmented, mixed, virtual, and extended realities from realizing their potentials.

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While on the surface both developments seem to adversely affect the gaming industry the most, it is important to mention that most new applications leveraging the benefits of AR, MR, VR or even XR for that matter were targeting domains like e-commerce, design and development, and medical care.

Microsoft’s lay off decision then, seems difficult to comprehend considering that research and development of this kind has always required belief and commitment for extended periods of time.

If you have ever witnessed a device like the HoloLens, you cannot help but imagine its many possible offerings in extreme conditions, emergencies, or natural disasters.

Even in the mundanity of everyday life, these digitally enabled realities offer interesting new ways to engage with the things around us.

For example, at times when I need exact measurements on the go, reaching out for the AR ruler app on my phone seems like second nature, and as a player I am yet to find a game experience that immerses me to the same degree that Moss does on the PSVR.

From a gaming standpoint, one needs to look no further than the revolutionary ‘live experience’ that a game like 2020’s Flight Simulator offers to understand how benefits from Microsoft’s mixed reality initiatives like HoloTour were essential in completing the simulation.

Microsoft’s experiments with mixed reality gave it the necessary edge to compete in a world where Sony’s dominance of the first party title had nearly homogenized the global gaming experience.

At a time when I usually scratched my head to distinguish between Niantic’s Ingress, Pokémon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and 2023’s NBA All-World I always rested easy knowing that Microsoft was trying to break the mold.

Every time Microsoft acquired a new gaming studio or franchise, I felt it was all in the search of synergy or a long-term vision, but today, I struggle to understand how a company that just spent nearly USD 80 Billion (in early 2022) to acquire Activison Blizzard cannot find the necessary resources to keep supporting its mixed reality division.

As the world recovers from Zuckerberg’s forays into the Metaverse and an impending financial crunch that will potentially wipe out calls for hybrid work arrangements. I am genuinely worried that the potential of these technologies will probably never be realized.

There is more to these technologies than their benefits to gaming, and I am quite disappointed that Silicon Valley cannot see that.

Microsoft, this is simply not done. I am sure there is some chump change lying around, maybe under the sofa cushions?