Microsoft has one goal, at the very least, for its innovative HoloLens technology: it believes it's a perfect fit for Minecraft's 100 million users. That's exactly why Microsoft snapped up Mojang, the maker of Minecraft, for $2.5 billion in September 2014.
The idea is that Microsoft is likely the one entity that knew why it made the acquisition back then.
The reason it wasn't a big story last year was because no one quite knew anything about HoloLens or Microsoft's development efforts in virtual reality until it revealed what it was working on at the start of this year.
"Let's have a game that, in fact, will fundamentally help us change new categories," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "HoloLens was very much in the works then, and we knew it."
HoloLens, which was announced in January, was presented at the same time Microsoft was plugging its Watch, the development of Windows 10 and a slew of new laptops and desktops.
Microsoft even did a bit of a teaser during the event, using Minecraft in a demo of its HoloLens virtual reality headset but didn't go the extra step in making the connection. Neither did any of the media covering the event.
One reason is that Microsoft knows full well that, given the presence of Oculus Rift and Samsung's Gear VR in the market, pushing into virtual reality presents as big a challenge as it's facing in the smartphone industry. It's banking on the idea that its hologram innovation with AR will outpace known and respected brands.
That's likely why Nadella stated he is striving to avoid over hyping HoloLens and taking a deliberate strategy with virtual and augmented reality technology.
HoloLens is a headset that users wear as goggles. It presents 3D virtual reality with actual reality.
Despite reports of big advancements already being made, it's going to be more than a challenge to put HoloLens into play, even with the Minecraft user base. Microsoft has indicated that HoloLens should be arriving around the same time as Windows 10.
The problem in the past few months is that Microsoft has been saying Windows 10 will be arriving by early to mid summer, but more recent reports claim that will just be the starting point of Windows 10 releases. The entire OS release could take a year.
This week, during its Build conference for developers, Microsoft offered software makers a chance to try on HoloLens devices in a move to ignite app making for the headset.
