Microsoft is preparing to make good on a long-awaited, and somewhat forgotten promise it made about the Oculus Rift. In 2015, Microsoft announced that Oculus Rift owners would be able to stream Xbox One games to their VR headsets, but when the Rift launched at the end of March 2016, the feature was nowhere to be found. And no one seemed to care.
Despite the seeming lack of public interest in streaming Xbox One games to the Rift headset, Microsoft hasn’t abandoned the concept. In fact, the software company is preparing to launch Xbox One to Oculus Rift streaming in the coming weeks. The free app will allow Rift owners who also own a Windows 10 PC and an Xbox One console to play their favorite Xbox One games on the Rift HMD.
The Xbox One console renders the game and sends the video output over the local network. The Xbox One Streaming to Oculus Rift app picks up the feed and sends it to the Rift on a virtual big screen display inside one of three virtual environments: Citadel, Retreat, and Dome. Microsoft said the experience is like having "your own virtual reality cinema screen."
Microsoft’s awkwardly named "Xbox One Streaming to Oculus Rift" app is coming to the Oculus Store on December 12, 2016.
