Getting world building videogame Minecraft: Pocket Edition on Gear VR was a boon for Oculus and Samsung when it arrived in April. The highly popular title will now be getting an added bonus for players in the form of Xbox LIVE Achievements.
Players will be able to unlock 56 achievements giving a total of 1110 available points for those with Xbox accounts. At present the achievements haven’t gone live and neither Oculus or Microsoft have announced when the update will happen.
Oculus VR has been working very closely with Microsoft for a while now, with the Redmond-based company supplying Xbox One controllers for the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD). Rumours have also been doing the rounds that Microsoft will be making a more powerful Xbox One that could power a Rift, competing with Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE’s) PlayStation VR on PlayStation 4. SIE has recently confirmed an upgraded version of PlayStation 4, codenamed Neo but has yet to reveal specifications other than 4K output.
This is the first instance of virtual reality (VR) unlockable Xbox LIVE achievements and could open the floodgates for further titles supporting the feature. This is likely to attract a lot more attention from Xbox gamers and the industry as a whole. Currently Oculus does have its own from of achievements for Oculus Rift, and videogames purchased through Valve’s retail platform also offer the similar rewards for gameplay, but the Gear VR hasn’t got its own.
With E3 this week there’s the possibility that further details could emerge regarding when the update is likely to occur, or plans for other titles to get support. VRFocus will keep you posted on the latest announcements for Gear VR as details surface.
