Steam, Samsung and Halo all coming to Windows Mixed Reality
SteamVR preview now available to developers, Samsung Odyssey headset announced, and Halo Recruit VR experience will launch on October 17
Microsoft has added SteamVR support to its Windows Mixed Reality platform, and Samsung has also joined its growing family of headset manufacturers.
Steam currently has the widest selection of VR games on the market. With Oculus now more open to Steam users than ever before, Microsoft's support only strengthens Valve's position as the leading VR storefront.
The preview version of SteamVR was made available to Windows Mixed Reality developers yesterday, with the consumer version of the preview set to follow before the end of the year.
Microsoft has also strengthened ties to another of the VR market's major players: Samsung, which will join Acer, HP, Lenovo and Dell as a Windows Mixed Reality headset manufacturer. The Samsung HMD Odyssey will have a resolution of 2880 x 1600 - higher than the 2880×1440 found in other WMR headsets - and two Samsung AMOLED displays.
The Samsung HMD Odyssey will cost $499.99 - $100 more than the cheapest headsets - and it will start shipping on November 10, almost a month after the Windows Mixed Reality platform launches on October 17, as part of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
What will launch on October 17 is a VR experience set in the Halo universe, created by 343 Industries. A statement from Microsoft's Alex Kipman said that Halo Recruit will be "a fun, brief introduction to the Halo universe" - "brief" being a word often associated with VR content based on major brands.
You can watch Microsoft's presentation in the video below.
