Microsoft Office and Teams are coming to Meta Quest, as well as Xbox Cloud Gaming. According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, having Microsoft 365 on Meta’s Quest headset will allow users to “create, communicate, and collaborate in completely new ways.” No disrespect to Nadella, but it’s hard for me to see how having an endless array of virtual screens in the metaverse will help me get work done in a unique and productive way, especially when I already have two real-life screens. Don’t diss it until you try it, though.
Office 365 and Windows 365 Are Coming to Quest
At Meta’s Connect conference on Tuesday, Nadella announced that Microsoft 365, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Windows 365, will soon be available in Quest. In an example, Microsoft showed a person — possibly Nadella, but I can’t tell just by looking at their head — wearing a Quest headset surrounded by five virtual screens. It’s a nice image, for sure, but I just don’t know how many people would use it.
I get using Quest for creative and scientific endeavours, such as designing shoes or looking at a virus from all possible angles, but putting on your headset to check your email or make a PowerPoint presentation? Somehow, that just doesn’t sound that exciting.
Microsoft Teams in the Metaverse, for Companies Looking to “Reconnect” With Their Workers
Acknowledging that companies are going through what he called a “once-in-a-lifetime” change in how they work, Nadella stated the company is also bringing Microsoft Teams to Quest, to give organisations new ways to collaborate that are similar to meeting in person. Microsoft Teams in Quest will bring whiteboarding, brainstorming, and Teams meetups to an entirely new level, Nadella emphasised.
“You you can connect, share, collaborate as though you were together in person, and in the future you’ll be able to use other avatars, including Meta avatars, in immersive experiences in Teams meetings, too,” the Microsoft CEO said.
Considering Teams is the complicated bane of my existence on a PC or a phone, I’d rather Microsoft make it more appealing to use from meatspace first. On the plus side, it does look like metaverse and meatspace callers will be able to interact with each other.
Xbox Cloud Gaming Is Also Coming to Quest
Finally, although Nadella didn’t provide many details, he revealed that Microsoft is not only partnering with Meta on workplace integrations, but also in gaming. The Microsoft CEO stated that the company would be bringing Xbox Game Pass’ Cloud Gaming service to the Meta Quest Store.
“You’ll be able to play 2D games with your Xbox controller projected on a massive screen on Quest. It’s [the] early days, but we are excited for what’s to come,” Nadella said.
All in all, Microsoft seems to be pretty friendly with Meta and on board with its metaverse experiment. If anything, this is a good test run for Microsoft. Nadella has stated gaming will play a key role in metaverse platforms in the future, and now he can check to see how much users are willing to play all kinds of games in VR, and not just the ones built for it.