One of the biggest announcements to come out of Oculus Connect 6 (OC6) in September was Oculus Link, a new feature for Oculus Quest allowing the headset to connect to a PC to play Oculus Rift titles. No release date was ever given, only a November window. Today, that window has closed as Oculus Link is now available in beta form.
With the rollout of the Oculus Link software, Oculus Quest owners will need to purchase a USB-3 cable to connect to their PC as the Oculus Quest charging cable isn’t up to the task – its only USB-2. It’s not just the correct cable you’ll need, the beta software currently supports only a select number of graphics cards, all of which are NVIDIA’s.
Setting up is fairly simple though. Once the cable is connected to the PC and headset all you need to do is launch the Oculus desktop app to browse Oculus Rift titles and then play them. Obviously, you’ll lose the wireless freedom the headset provides but at the same time, you’ll gain access to some amazing VR experiences. Oculus Rift has seen some major videogame release recently, Asgard’s Wrath and Stormland being the most notable. VRFocus gave Insomniac Games’ latest adventure a full five-star review, saying: “Every Oculus Rift owner need this in their library, as Stormland could very well be the VR videogame of 2019.”
VRFocus got its hands-on Oculus Link back in September finding that while the feature is a natural benefit for Oculus Quest owners – and will probably help sell more of the headsets – the wireless device is still heavier at the front than Oculus Rift S as well as lacking its bigger siblings visual clarity. So if you want the best VR experience a dedicated PC VR headset is still the way to go.
The Oculus Link update isn’t the only addition Oculus is rolling out today for its mobile headsets. These also include:
Search
- Improved discoverability to make it easier to find new content.
- Enhanced navigation functionality to make it easier to scroll and use the search feature.
- Added an autofill Search bar that populates when hovering over an autocomplete tag.
App Installs
- Any pending or in-process app installs will now complete before your headset goes to sleep.
Environments for Quest
- We’ve added the new Environments feature to Quest. Environments allow you to change the world that surrounds you while in your Quest Home.
Experiments
- New High Score Shelf in VR (Beat Saber) – See high scores from friends in your VR Feed when playing Beat Saber
- Achievements in VR – See achievements (new levels, trophies, etc. in games) from friends in your VR Feed
- Personalization in VR – You can now favorite or hide apps/genres, which will either boost or remove them from your Explore Feed.
As further updates are released, VRFocus will let you know.