It looks like Xbox boss Phil Spencer is looking to pull back a bit on some dismissive commentary he recently made regarding virtual reality and its place – or lack thereof – on Project Scarlett. In a recent interview, Spencer was asked about the potential for virtual reality on the new Xbox console, to which he responded with a rather damning statement for the technology. “I have some issues with VR,” he said. “It’s isolating and I think of games as a communal, kind of together experience.”

We’re responding to what our customers are asking for and nobody’s asking for VR.”

Phil Spencer went on to say that “nobody’s selling millions and millions” of VR hardware, despite the rather glaring fact that Sony is now up to 4.2 million users utilizing PlayStation VR. Spencer’s commentary was addressed by none other than Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida, who made an interesting point with the following tweet:

（´-`）.｡oO（we oftentimes work hard to make things that no customers are asking for them）

— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) November 26, 2019

The Xbox boss’s feedback didn’t end there, as another Twitter user called Phil Spencer out for his unfairly dismissive words for VR, which prompted a clarifying response from Spencer:

Fair feedback. I’ve said publically, I love how our industry has pioneered: AI, physics, 3D, RT, VR/AR etc. For us, it’s about focus on our innovations right now. I’ve played some great VR games, I got to play HL:Alyx in the summer, amazing. It’s just not our focus with Scarlett

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) November 27, 2019

At this point it would be unfairly optimistic to suggest that VR still has a chance of finding a future home in Project Scarlett. Still, anything can happen in the next year and beyond, and if there’s a fan base for it – despite Phil Spencer’s suggestion of the contrary – we may see the Xbox boss changing his tune.

Project Scarlett is slated to release at some point late next year.

So, thoughts on Phil Spencer’s commentary towards VR? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!