Oculus Link: The Best 10 Rift Games You Should Play On Oculus Quest

Oculus Quest is home to a lot of great VR games but, from today, you can play Oculus Rift games on your headset too thanks to Oculus Link.

Now available in beta, Link requires a type 3 cable to connect to a high powered PC (check the specs here). If you have all of those things, then you can access a bunch of PC VR content. But what games and apps should you be sure to check out?

We already have extensive lists of the best Oculus Rift and SteamVR games, but they have a lot of overlap with games that are already on Quest. You’re of course free to check them out with improved fidelity, but for this list we’ve kept it to experiences that aren’t on Quest natively. With that in mind, here’s 10 Oculus Rift games and apps to play on Quest via Oculus Link.

Note: We’ve tested the first 5 – 10 minutes of each of these games in Quest to ensure they work. If anyone encounters any problems, be sure to let us know!

10. The Lab – SteamVR (Read Our Review)

Three and a half years on from PC VR’s launch and The Lab remains one of the best experiences you can have on the platform. Valve’s collection of minigames offer a taste of its signature brand of humor and, more importantly, a template for incredible VR interactions that separate this new technology from its traditional gaming roots. Plus it’s free, and you can’t really argue with that.

9. Gorn – Oculus Home, SteamVR (Read Our Review)

Gorn’s physics-driven over the top combat would likely struggle to fit on Quest natively, so we fully recommend picking it up for Oculus Link. In this slapstick gladiator combat game you impale, dismember, and bash enemies with a wide array of weaponry. It is ridiculously gory and utterly hilarious, refined through years of Early Access development. Don’t miss Gorn.

8. L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files- Oculus Home, SteamVR (Read Our Review)

Rockstar holds the keys to some of the best virtual worlds out there. L.A. Noire might not rank up there with GTAV and Red Dead 2, but its dedication to authenticity still makes it an essential setting to explore with a headset. The VR Case Files cherry-picks a handful of cases from the original game to reexperience in VR. It’s one of the most polished experiences you can have on the platform.

7. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice VR Edition – SteamVR (Read Our Review)

No one expected Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice to get a VR adaptation. Better yet, no one expected such an adaptation to work so well. And yet Hellblade VR is a shining example of how to get VR ports right, with fantastic visuals and select moments that work even better inside the headset. If you already own the game this is a free update, so don’t forget to download it.

6. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR – SteamVR (Read Our Review)

Turns out the Skyrim of VR is, well, Skyrim! Bethesda did an incredible job porting its legendary role-playing game to PC VR headsets, offering a massive open world to explore with hours worth of quesst to tackle. Plus, when you add in mods, Skyrim VR becomes is own metaverse of possibilities.

5. Wolves in the Walls – Oculus Home (Read Our Coverage)

There’s tons of amazing VR experiences out there right now that straddle the line between games, films and something entirely new. Star Wars: Vader Immortal shows us that on Quest but, for our money, Wolves in the Walls from Fable Studio is the best example yet. This interactive story has you befriending a young girl. Fable goes to great lengths to make the bond between you as natural as it can be. If you’re looking for something other than gaming, this is a great place to start.

4. No Man’s Sky VR – SteamVR (Read Our Review)

An infinite universe of planets to explore, adventures to go on and friends to work with. That’s the promise No Man’s Sky’s ambitious VR update makes and, though launch was marred by technical hitches, Hello Games delivered. This is the entire original game with native-feeling VR support, giving you an endless amount of content to enjoy.

3. Stormland – Oculus Home (Read Our Review)

Insomniac Games makes the list again with its most recent title, Stormland. This is an incredibly slick first-person shooter in which you traverse a series of islands connected by a sea of clouds. A fluid, free movement system makes this one of VR’s most liberating experiences, and the live features and two-player co-op make this worth the jump.

2. Lone Echo – Oculus Home (Read Our Review)

Lone Echo was a pioneer of the now-beloved zero-gravity locomotion system for VR. Not only that but the game delivers incredible visuals, thoughtful pacing and a great story, driven by strong characters and the bonds you grow with them. Plus it’s required playing before the launch of Lone Echo II and you can get in a bit of practice before the release of Echo VR on Quest.

1. Asgard’s Wrath – Oculus Home (Read Our Review)

We recently crowned Asgard’s Wrath as VR’s best game and, though only a month has passed, that still remains true in a busy holiday season. This is the massive, VR-native role-playing game that many fans have been waiting for, taking you on a tour of Norse Mythology and adding in biting melee combat and brilliant animal companions.

Honourary Mention: Edge of Nowhere – Oculus Home (Read Our Review)

Insomniac’s VR debut remains one of the best, most thrilling gamepad-based games in VR. You can think of this as a mix between Uncharted and Dead Space; it’s a third-person action horror game in which you travel to the Arctic in search of a lost expedition. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the game presents a chilling descent into madness you won’t want to miss.

Do you agree with our list of the best Oculus Link games? Let us know in the comments below!

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5 Reasons Why The Outer Worlds VR Support Could Be Amazing

We often write lists of reasons why big, prominent non-VR games should absolutely get official VR support. Examples of ones we’re still crossing our fingers for Metro Exodus, Kingdom Come Deliverance, and Destiny 2. With that being said, it does happen. Just look at No Man’s Sky, Hellblade VR, Skyrim VR, Fallout 4 VR, and Borderlands 2 VR as examples.


First, a bit of background: What exactly is The Outer Worlds? Basically, Obsidian Entertainment is an RPG-focused development studio that has created on games like Neverwinter Nights II, Fallout: New Vegas, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny, and many others over the years and was founded by people that originally created the Fallout franchise. The pitch here is that, this is a lot like a new Fallout game in every way but name, but instead of taking place after a nuclear apocalypse it puts you as a boisterous captain of a spaceship as you make your way across various planets with your rag tag group of NPC companions. Think of it as a combo of several key tenets of both Bethesda and Bioware games and you’re pretty close.

Usually there is some sort of key justification for it all beyond just “this would be cool!” and this time with The Outer Worlds is no different. Consider this article my formal plea to either Obsidian Entertainment to add at least head tracking support, if not a full VR update, as well as a list of reasons an intrepid would be praised for doing some of the dirty work.

the outer worlds title image city background

Fallout 4 VR As A Point Of Comparison

Let’s get it out of the way first: if Fallout 4 can work in VR, I absolutely think The Outer Worlds can. Obviously a full-on VR adaptation with roomscale movement support and motion controller tracking would be glorious, but I’d honestly settle for head-tracking only as well. Head-tracking mods have done wonders to make games like Alien Isolation and GTA V feel new again in VR and that would be great here as well. Something like VorpX will probably get updated soon, but direct VR support within the game would be better.

Immersive Atmosphere

The Outer Worlds is one of those kinds of games that is very easy to lose yourself in. The landscapes are vast and beautiful, the characters are rich and full of interesting things to say, and the regions are both wide and deep with tons of things to do and see. While not quite an open world game, there is so much to do in The Outer Worlds with a litany of ways to build your character you won’t be pressed to find things to do. Within the first hour it’s tough to walk for more than a few minutes without finding something fresh and new going on.

the outer worlds landing image shot

Gorgeous And Appropriate Setting

Like, just look at it. Look at The Outer Worlds. This is a screenshot I took yesterday (also embedded above) immediately after exiting my landing pod following character creation and stepping foot into the game world for the very first time. Not only is it just a drop-dead gorgeous game, but it’s got an incredibly immersive atmosphere that really evokes that same sense of discovery you get from VR games like The Solus Project, Skyrim VR, No Man’s Sky VR, and Fallout 4 VR. Not to mention the setting is all about exploring strange worlds that feel ripped out of a sci-fi film or graphic novel.

the outer worlds fallout image

Unreal Engine And Planned Mod Support

Since The Outer Worlds is an Unreal Engine 4 game and not based on a custom platform, that at least leaves the door cracked to the potential of VR support of some kind. At the very least hopefully VorpX will work in time or can be achieved by tweaking settings from an existing UE4 game’s profile. But going even beyond that, Obsidian are intending to add mod support sometime after launch which could theoretically make it possible for more bespoke VR solutions. Again though, even just basic head-tracking and 3D would be enough to make me try it in a VR HMD.

the outer worlds fps gameplay

Single-Player Focused RPG Shooter

There aren’t enough games like The Outer Worlds in VR. Other than the big examples I’ve listed already like Fallout 4 VR, Skyrim VR, No Man’s Sky VR, and maybe The Solus Project for a survival-focused angle, it’s a genre that most developers haven’t had the funding, resources, or time to tap into much yet for immersive content. Adapting a game like The Outer Worlds would be a great stop-gap solution. Stormland is coming up soon and should scratch the itch a bit, but it’s less narrative-focused overall and has an emphasis on co-op. The Outer Worlds, on the other hand, is deeply narrative focused, single-player, and is oozing with great RPG elements.


Let us know what you think of this article down in the comments below! Would you play The Outer Worlds in VR? 

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Skyrim VR, Astro Bot, Resident Evil 7 Included In New PSVR Bundle

Sony has announced a refreshed version of its PlayStation VR Mega Pack Bundle, available for pre-order in Europe now.

The new lineup of games included in the bundle are PlayStation VR Worlds, Skyrim VR, ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission, Everybody’s Golf VR and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.

Resident Evil 7 and Everybody’s Golf VR are new to the bundle this year, replacing Doom VFR and the WipEout Omega collection from last year David was a big fan of Resident Evil 7 on PSVR back when it came out in 2017. In fact, he struggled to find any serious criticism, so it’s nice to see such a polished experience make its way into the bundle this year.

Everybody’s Golf VR is the most recently released title of the five, and David found it “extremely fun and engaging, even if lacking in terms of accuracy a bit due to the limitations of the PSVR as a platform.”

Skyrim VR and Astro Bot are also enjoyable PSVR titles, while PlayStation VR Worlds “feels like a poor attempt at creating a bundle game collection that could stand toe-to-toe with fully-developed games on retail shelves.”

PlayStation VR Mega Bundle Pack

It’s also important to note that the games included in the bundle are all digital codes for download, not physical copies. Also included in the box is a PSVR headset and a PS Camera. Move controllers are not included in the pack. While they aren’t essential for all PSVR games, some popular games like Beat Saber do require them. Some games in the bundle, like Skyrim and PlayStation VR Worlds, would also benefit from the Move controllers.

The pack also does not include a PS4, so you’ll need one of those (or a PS4 Pro) to actually use the PSVR equipment in the bundle.

The new Mega Pack bundle releases on October 4th, and will be “available through select retailers across multiple countries.” It is currently available for pre-order on Amazon UK for £299.99.

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Editorial: Why Catching Pokemon In Skyrim Could Be The Future Of VR And AR

Editorial: Why Catching Pokemon In Skyrim Could Be The Future Of VR And AR

You have been invited to join a movement. A rebel cause to make the future a stranger, freer, more interesting place. A place where people, applications, games, all intersect and intermingle seamlessly around us in unlimited configurations. Where the barriers between VR and AR dissolve and our virtual worlds and augmentations can seamlessly intermingle. A place without central ownership or one-size-fits-all rules for existence.

To get there, all we need to do is remove the barriers that exist between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality and let them become one thing.

Come again?

Augmenting Any Reality

Check out this video:

What you’re seeing here is Pokemon Go’s AR mode augmenting Skyrim VR. Augmented Virtual Reality. This isn’t some crazy hack with kitbashing and emulation. We simply put the iPhone’s camera up to a VR headset’s lens and tricked the phone into thinking Skyrim was reality. This works for any ARKit and ARCore app today in any virtual reality.

AR Apps augment whatever reality is given to them. They don’t care whether they’re augmenting real or virtual reality.

Every single AR app made today should run great by augmenting virtual worlds instead of the real one (with possibly the exception of AR navigation apps, but even those have a use in VR — they just need to be provided different data).

Why Do This?

About half of the people we tell this to are already on board. The other half ask “Why?”. Why would you augment a virtual world? What does that do for you?

Here are some anecdotal answers:

  1. I want to climb up a mountain in Skyrim and find a Pokemon Gym on top that I can conquer by calling up friends and having them also launch Skyrim and climb that mountain so we can take it down together. The augmentation adds a new social motivation to do something in the virtual world.
  2. I want to bring my virtual pet with me when I explore new worlds.
  3. I can invite my friends to join me as augmentations and give them a tour of my house in Minecraft.
  4. I can add my own body or parts of my house into any VR experience as an augmentation.

Here’s my less anecdotal answer:

  1. Any value from augmenting the real world carries over to virtual ones.
  2. Right now there are millions of VR headsets ready to be augmented. That’s a market much larger than AR headsets today. Even phone AR apps can run in virtual worlds.
  3. It’s easier to augment virtual worlds because virtual worlds are already software, and we can get direct access to game information. In the real world we have to painfully, expensively, and often erroneously reconstruct information from camera pixels and other sensors. This means the quality of augmentations in VR will always be better than augmentations in the real world.
  4. When augmenting virtual worlds, we can give our augmentation real power and agency to interact and make changes to the world. Each virtual world can choose how much access the augmentations should have. My virtual cat can fight alongside me in Gorn!

Point 4 above is the really exciting one for me. Current AR is cosmetic only and lacks any agency. I like to think of it like VR without hand controllers. Without hands, you can look at VR and react to it, but you can’t touch it. You are merely an observer. When you augment the real world, your augmentations can look at and eventually observe the real world, but they will never be able to touch it. When you bring your augmentations into VR, it’s like giving hands to your augmentations. Augmentations in VR can be more than just cosmetic!

How does this Protect Against Central Ownership?

I promised we were making the future a stranger, freer place without central ownership. How does Augmenting Virtual Reality do that?

Well, this year major platforms started adopting the OpenXR standard for both VR and AR apps. Runtimes that implement OpenXR have the opportunity to support overlays. I believe Unity and Unreal Engine can both eventually provide 1-click solutions to package your existing AR apps as a native VR overlay. This would dramatically increase the addressable market with AR apps.

This means that, soon, VR apps could start providing overlay interaction APIs to give agency to your augmentations. All AR and VR experiences can be split into environments and augmentations that all share a collection of common APIs for interaction. Note that one possible background for augmentation is the real world. Another is the Skyrim world. And the “metaverse” is just that collection of cross-compatible backgrounds and augmentations.. When we join a friend for a game, we pick a background to meet up in (whether a spot on earth, or a virtual environment) and bring the augmentations that make sense there. Sometimes the background we meet up in will be the real world, and the augmentations we bring will likely be cosmetic only, at least most of the time.

No one owns these interaction APIs, and so no one company will own everything. There’s no one-size-fits-all metaverse, and instead we all get to build whatever world we each want in a socially compatible way. There is no central ownership where an insane man can arbitrarily give control to whatever kid knows the most obscure ’80s references.

The OpenXR standard announced at GDC is an incredible step toward making this weird future come true. It provides a solid foundation to start building these sorts of experiences now. But the standard is still being created and we can all help guide it together to ensure a future we want to live in!

Call to Action

Platform holders such as Oculus, Valve, Google, Microsoft, and Magic Leap need to implement the OpenXR standard, especially the part about overlays and RGB-depth information.  These extensions are the foundation that allows us to augment our virtual worlds.

With Unreal Engine and Unity, we don’t just want to augment virtual worlds – we want it to be easy. Those teams already have (or are working on) a unified framework for making AR apps independent of underlying AR technology. Extend that framework to also give developers that same information in VR for overlays! It really can be as easy for developerssas switching their target to “OpenXR Overlay on PC” instead of “ARCore Android App”!

Niantic should create a PC or VR overlay that lets me catch Pokemon in Skyrim. You should be able to do this without Bethesda’s permission since augmented overlays are already a protected form of art (see Rifftrax for an example where they augment movies with an audio overlay without permission).

Game Developers can then create augmented layers as a cool way to connect all sorts of video game worlds, not just Pokemon and Skyrim. I single out Pokemon Go here but, you could also find Breath of the Wild korok seeds in God of War, Minecraft diamonds in Fortnite, etc.

Some overlay applications for VR already exist such as OVRDrop and Pluto VR. So AR and VR developers should take the time to consider whether your app can be broken up into a background and one or more augmentations. Take my app SculptrVR for example: I now think of it as a sculpting augmentation with a simple skybox background. As soon as possible, I will package it as an OpenXR overlay so that people can sculpt in Skyrim.

This is how we immunize the future from central control and one-size-fits-all rules for existence. Let’s build a freer and more interesting future together!

#AugmentAnything

About the authors: Nathan Rowe is the founder of SculptrVR. SculptrVR is multi-platform, multi-player, multi-scale volumetric sculpting application with 10,000x zoom and also rockets..? Nathan does all of the voxel engine code for SculptrVR, and his dreams are full of octrees. Jared Cheshier is the CTO and co-founder of Pluto and member of the OpenXR working group. Pluto is a spatial communications company with the purpose to help humanity transcend physical location. Pluto has two clients, the PlutoVR alpha and an alpha for iOS devices with TrueDepth cameras.

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2018 VR Award Nominations Highlight Skyrim, Beat Saber, Coco, And More

2018 VR Award Nominations Highlight Skyrim, Beat Saber, Coco, And More

Nominations are in for the 2018 VR Awards which is put on by VR Bound and judged by an expert panel. As of today there’s a shortlist of nominees for 12 different categories including headset of the year, VR game of the year, and even best marketing.

Last year marked the first-ever VR Awards with Rift taking home best headset and Raw Data securing VR game of the year — among a long list of winners. Comparatively, for UploadVR’s 2017 awards, we selected the Samsung Odyssey and Lone Echo/Echo Arena respectively as our winners for those categories.

Here are this year’s nominees:

VR Headset of the Year Nominees

HTC – Vive Pro

Oculus – Go

VRgineers Inc. – VRHero 5K Plus

HTC – Vive Focus

VR Game of the Year Nominees

Bethesda Softworks – Fallout 4 VR

Bethesda Softworks – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR

Beat Games – Beat Saber

Survios Inc. – Sprint Vector

Ready At Dawn – Lone Echo / Echo Arena

Hidden Path Entertainment – Brass Tactics

Vertical Robot – Red Matter

VRWERX – Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul

ARVORE Immersive Experiences – Pixel Ripped 1989 (currently unreleased)

inXile Entertainment – The Mage’s Tale

Cloudhead Games Ltd. – The Gallery – Episode 2: Heart of the Emberstone

Electric Hat Games – TO THE TOP

nDreams – Shooty Fruity

VR Experience of the Year Nominees

REWIND – Silicon Valley: Inside The Hacker Hostel

Framestore – A Moon For All Mankind

Magnopus – Coco VR

Magnopus – Blade Runner 2049: Memory Lab

Preloaded and BBC Worldwide – BBC Earth: Life in VR – California Coast

Tomorrow Never Knows – The Day The World Changed

Flight School – Manifest 99

Framestore – Sky4DVR

Human Interact – Starship Commander

Interactive Media Foundation gGmbHl – Ulm Stories – The Dream of Flying

NextVR – NBA League Pass in NextVR: 2017-2018 Regular Season

VR Film of the Year Nominees

Baobab Studios – Asteroids!

ILMxLAB – CARNE y ARENA

Pink Kong Studios – Aurora

Room One Films – The Committee

Lucid Dreams Productions – The Sun Ladies

Olympic Channel & Jaunt – Trending Gold

Vision3 – My Africa

NSC Creative – Vestige

FoxNext VR Studio – Isle of Dogs Behind the Scenes (in Virtual Reality)

TopDogVR – Speed Kills VR

VR Marketing of the Year Nominees

ILMxLAB – Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay

Flight School and Momentum Worldwide – GMC Rangeland Derby VR

BackLight – L’Oreal / Diesel Only the Brave

Pebble Studios – Pebble Studios: DuckTales | 360° Adventure: The Lost Key of Tralla La

Magnopus – Coco VR

Somewhere Else – Delicatessen

GrandPano – SPP – SMART HOME

Magnopus – Blade Runner 2049: Memory Lab

Welcomm (working together with Bravo!/Plato Reality) – Melbourne, meet your new train

TAKELEAP – IKEA Virtual Reality Store

Audi and ZeroLIght – Audi VR Experience

Rising VR Company of the Year Nominees

Flight School

SpringboardVR

VRgineers Inc.

Fast Travel Games AB

Neurogaming Limited

Cooperative Innovations

Anzu.io

Innovative VR Company of the Year Nominees

Striker VR

Ultrahaptics

Pixvana

Spinview

AiSolve

TAKELEAP

Human Interact

Visbit Inc.

Flipside

Gravity Sketch

VR Education of the Year Nominees

Schell Games – HoloLAB Champions

MEL Science – MEL Chemistry VR

Elara Systems – Alcon Virtual Eye Experience

ITI, United Rentals, & Serious Labs – VR Crane & Equipment Operator Training Simulator Suite

Alliander – Alliander Virtual Platform

VR Factory – Bartender VR Simulator

MEDIASQUAD Medienentwicklungs- und Vertriebs-GmbH – Pharmaceutical Line Clearance VR Training

FarBridge, Inc. – MasterWorks: Journey Through History

VR Healthcare of the  Year Nominees

Elara Systems – Alcon Virtual Eye Experience

Medis Media – 3D Organon VR Anatomy – Enterprise edition

VRHealth – First Certified VR Medical Device Company in the world

Rescape Innovation Ltd – DR.VR

Infinite MR – Cigna Peak Challenge

INFINITE MIXED REALITY – INFINITY HOUSE

Virti – Virti

appliedVR – EaseVR

NUMENA Virtual Reality Architects – B. Braun Spine Days

Out-of-Home VR Entertainment of the Year Nominees

ILMxLAB and The VOID  – Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire

Figment Productions – Kraken Unleashed, SeaWorld Orlando

Framestore – A Moon For All Mankind

BackLight – Eclipse

Neurogaming Limited – World of Tanks VR

HOLOGATE – HOLOGATE

Kynoa – Koliseum Soccer VR

Neurogaming Limited – PolygonVR

Frontgrid – ParadropVR

VR Social Impact Award Nominees

ILMxLAB – CARNE y ARENA

The Distillery – What Will Your Day Bring?

Flight School – Evolution of Testicles

The Guardian Media Group – The Party – A virtual experience of autism

Virtual Dream Foundation – Virtual Dream

CNN – Global Warning – Arctic Melt

VISYON – Window to our World

VR CITY – Malaria: Life on the frontline

Animal Equality – The Dairy Industry in 360 Degrees

VR Architecture and Real Estate of the Year Nominees

GrandPano – ALL in ONE VR for architecture

Virtual Worlds – Virtual Worlds 4D Theatre

Overstruct – Overstruct

Nanopixel – Bostoen – Creating your dream house before it’s even built

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