A "major" European developer is planning to debut its Xbox VR game during E3, with plans to launch in 2017, with Microsoft likely to announce its VR plans at E3.

With E3 less than three weeks away and the internet astir with rumor and speculation, Ars Technica has thrown the latest torch onto the bonfire. According to the press outlet, a "major developer" is currently hard at work on a VR game for the Xbox One. Planned for release in 2017, this game will reportedly be debuting at E3 this year. That is to say, that Ars Technica is independently confirming that Microsoft will be debuting their Xbox VR plans at E3 with plans to launch in 2017.

The source of this Xbox One news isn't a leaker, either. According to Ars, it was able to confirm the existence of this game itself as part of pre-E3 planning and the outlet was approved to mention these vague details through the developer's PR. As for the developer itself, though, Ars was only able to confirm that it's based in Europe and, as mentioned previously, that it's a "major developer." That's not exactly enough information to speculate, but Crytek, CCP, and Frontier are all big studios already known to be working on VR.

Oddly enough, this rumor seems much better sourced than the bevy of those which have teased Microsoft bringing VR to the Xbox in the first place. That the Xbox One will be getting VR and that it will be featured during E3 is perhaps the biggest leaked news of the event yet. Many questions remain, however, such as whether the current Xbox One will support VR or whether only the rumored Xbox One upgrade will be required. Some rumors say that Microsoft will be offering the Xbox One upgrade solely in support of virtual reality.

The Ars Technica news isn't the only story regarding developers working on a virtual reality headset for Xbox VR. The official E3 website updated today, adding an official "Virtual Reality" category to the already existing "Xbox One" heading. Since then, four development studios have been logged under this category: Rebellion, Maximum Games, Readily Information Company, and 3DRudder. Those four companies are also listed under the PS4's "Virtual Reality" subcategory.

Game players will hopefully be excited about this news, as what we believe is important to take away is that there may be Xbox VR games playable from Microsoft at E3. It's one thing to announce a new console which has been upgraded for VR, another to announce that there are plans to bring VR to your console platforms, and finally something entirely different to actually show VR games running on said upgraded console. With the right games, Microsoft could justify the existence of the upgrade in one fell swoop -- though the opposite could also be true.

Microsoft's "Xbox E3 2016 Briefing" will air live from the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Monday, June 12 at 9:30 AM PDT. Expect news regarding new hardware, games, and a potential expansion into virtual reality then.

As far as confirmed titles go, Xbox One's next big exclusive is Gears of War 4, which is set to release for the console on October 11, 2016.

Source: Ars Technica, DualShockers