• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechVirtual Reality

How Microsoft HoloLens Could Propel Augmented Reality Gaming

By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 30, 2016, 3:42 PM ET
Asobo Studio

To the delight of many developers and technophiles, Microsoft announced the development edition of its HoloLens virtual reality headset is about to start shipping. The tech giant is also hoping to inspire gaming developers as well.

Each device will arrive packed with a trio of games, two of which were created by French developer Asobo Studio. Those titles are the platform action game Young Conker and the murder mystery Fragments. The third game rounding out the trio is RoboRaid, produced by Microsoft itself, making Asobo the only external developer with hands-on for game development on HoloLens.

According to David Dedeine, chief creative officer at Asobo Studio, no classic game uses reality like HoloLens does.

“With this Microsoft device, your table, your chair, or your couch becomes the platform,” says Dedeine. “Everything will have a direct impact on the game. Playing can be a very different experience from one room to another.”

The games Asobo developed can detect a room’s configuration and adapt to the environment automatically. For example, if there’s a couch in the play space, a character in Fragments will come and sit down next to the player and have a conversation, or evidence may be hidden behind it. In Young Conker, a horizontal surfaces such as a table, cupboard, or shelf might be used to hide a sniper or offer power-ups to collect.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

While much of the media attention since Facebook acquired Oculus VR in 2014 for $2 billion has focused on virtual reality, Dedeine, who has explored both new technologies, is more excited about augmented reality.

“For artistic direction as well as game design, sci-fi movies like Minority Report and Iron Man are now within reach,” Dedeine posits. “Those types of featured futuristic holographic interfaces are now coming to life with HoloLens.”

Dedeine believes that by the time there’s a consumer edition of HoloLens, which has not been officially announced, new video game genres will emerge around augmented reality.

“By definition, AR has reality as a base,” Dedeine explains. “As a result, it’s pretty hard to make the user pretend he is someone else. Instead, you need to make the user believe he–playing as himself in real life—is the one in the experience. In AR, it’s hard to make the user actually believe he is in a spaceship. He knows he is not. Instead, let’s pretend there are zombies in your own house. This opens up a different approach of user immersion in a fantasy universe.”

For role-playing games, Dedeine suggests augmented reality could change the focus from playing a warrior in the Middle Ages to a person (yourself) who discovers he was “modified” as a kid and has unexpected powers that can be unleashed to save the world.

“The gameplay would probably focus on his relationship with other characters, and how you interact with them verbally or even physically,” Dedeine says. “And it could end with an actual combat sequence in your own living room.”

With new developers just getting their hands on Microsoft’s augmented reality technology, Asobo hopes Young Conker and Fragments will serve as inspiration of what is possible through this new platform.

For more about HoloLens, watch:

“Being yourself at the center of all these interactions, having your world as the canvas of the game, this is the revolution,” Dedeine stresses. “We’ve tried to explore new fields, go beyond traditional gaming constraints, and proposed new solutions in visceral ways to live out stories. This is the future of gaming experiences, and we hope this will incite other developers to try and create all kinds of memorable moments with HoloLens.”

Digi-Capital forecasts that augmented reality will generate $90 billion by 2020, compared to the $30 billion virtual reality is expected to bring in. There’s even a new incubator and investment fund from Super Ventures allotting $10 million solely on augmented realty startups, including game companies.

“AR is so much a game changer that it’s much harder to predict its boundaries in any field,” Dedeine reflects. “It’s already so functional that enterprise companies have instantly seen how they can improve their process by using HoloLens.”

Microsoft also used its Build 2016 Developer Conference to highlight some of the enterprise and educational uses for HoloLens as the $3,000-headset goes out in the mail to game developers and companies around the globe today.

About the Author
By John Gaudiosi
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Elon Musk arrives at the courthouse during his trial against OpenAI
CryptoElon Musk
Elon Musk likes Bitcoin—but he just told a jury most crypto coins are scams
By Jack KubinecApril 30, 2026
1 hour ago
Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., at the Norges Bank Investment Management annual investment conference in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
EconomyJamie Dimon
For years, the risk Jamie Dimon was most concerned about was geopolitics. His answer has shifted
By Eleanor PringleApril 30, 2026
2 hours ago
google
InvestingMarkets
Google shares hit all-time high on blowout earnings, market cap doubles to $4.4 trillion in just a year
By Michael Liedtke and The Associated PressApril 30, 2026
3 hours ago
AWS
Big TechMarkets
Amazon’s cloud sales are growing the most in 15 quarters. Investors sent the stock down on AI capex fears
By Anne D'Innocenzio and The Associated PressApril 30, 2026
3 hours ago
AstraZeneca CFO Aradhana Sarin
BankingCFO Daily
How AstraZeneca’s 17,000 AI-certified employees are helping it reach a ‘stretch goal’ of $80 billion in revenue
By Sheryl EstradaApril 30, 2026
4 hours ago
agentic
CommentaryAI agents
Why your data infrastructure — not your AI model — will determine whether Agentic AI scales
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Stephen Henriques, Catherine Dai and Zander JeinthanuttkanontApril 30, 2026
5 hours ago

Most Popular

Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
Success
Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
By Preston ForeApril 27, 2026
3 days ago
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
Banking
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
By Eva RoytburgApril 29, 2026
22 hours ago
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
Economy
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
By Eleanor PringleApril 29, 2026
1 day ago
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
AI
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
By Sasha RogelbergApril 28, 2026
2 days ago
Google Cloud revenue is now 18% of Alphabet's business. Is this the beginning of the end of Google's search identity?
Big Tech
Google Cloud revenue is now 18% of Alphabet's business. Is this the beginning of the end of Google's search identity?
By Alexei OreskovicApril 29, 2026
15 hours ago
‘Take the money and run’: Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke on why the UAE quit OPEC
Energy
‘Take the money and run’: Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke on why the UAE quit OPEC
By Shawn TullyApril 29, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.