The first chunk of February came with good news for those with Windows VR headsets. On February 1st, Microsoft released a preview version of Windows which comes with a slew of new features including the ability to run regular desktop apps in VR; it’s been possible to run apps from the Windows Store with Windows VR headsets but, until now, apps from outside the store—like Photoshop, Spotify, Chrome, and others—were excluded.
While WMR only previously supported apps purchased from the Windows Store, the new integration of Win32 desktop apps opens the way for users to access standard software inside the Windows Mixed Reality Portal, the default virtual ‘home’ environment for Windows VR headsets.
The umbrella category of ‘Win32 desktop apps’ includes software that most Windows 10 users are accustomed to running on their computers, including Photoshop, Spotify, Google Chrome, and Steam, among others. To get to your desktop apps inside of Win32, navigate to the Pins Panel, all apps, and then to the folder titled “Classic Apps (Beta)”.
Windows Central broke down this and a handful of other recently release features in the video below:
The new feature came as part of the Windows Insider Preview build 18329. As is the case with all Insider builds, Microsoft is warning users that there will be many bugs to squash before the new features are ready for prime time. In the meanwhile, they are encouraging testers to submit as much feedback as possible. Because it’s still a preview build, features that are being tested right now may not make it all the way to the public Windows release in their current form.
With Insider build 18329 and the upcoming 19H1 public update in April, WMR moves closer to strengthening its position as a productivity tool, something Microsoft has been angling toward since the launch of the Windows VR headsets at the end of 2017. However, headset resolutions have not caught up fast enough to make working inside of VR palatable for long periods of time. Though that might not be the case for long though as HP recently revealed a new headset that’s a huge jump in resolution over even the highest fidelity Windows VR headsets available today.
Along with native support for regular desktop apps inside of Windows , the new Windows Insider build also includes non-VR Windows improvements like a Top Apps bar in the Search Home, ADLaM and Osage font support, better dark mode support for Mail & Calendar, and the ability to set a default font.
(Update: 10/29/19): For this update to our list of the best VR RPGs we’ve removed Fallout 4 VR and The Witching Tower in favor of adding Asgard’s Wrath and No Man’s Sky VR.
(Update: 8/9/19): For this update we’ve bumped off Chronos, VR Dungeon Knight, and Vengeful Rites in favor of adding Journey of the Gods, The Wizards: Enhanced Edition, and Shadow Legend.
(Originally published 2/8/19): For a lot of people, virtual reality is all about escapism. Being able to put on the headset and immediately be transported to a totally new world. Perhaps in your dreams that world is full of magic, wondrous creatures, and breathtaking locations. If that’s the case for you — if that’s what you imagine the best that VR has to offer being like — then you’ve come to the right place. This is our list of the top 10 very best VR RPGs that you can play on Rift, Vive, PSVR, Oculus Quest, and Windows MR right now.
We’re still in the early days of consumer-focused VR so that means we haven’t quite reached the point where developers can spend years crafting the ultimate experience from top to bottom. Many of the games on this list are either ports of non-VR games or made by small teams with a passion for VR. Either way, these are our picks for the best.
And since we’re specifically collecting a list of RPGs (that means role-playing games) we’re leaving off stuff that is primarily a shooter, adventure game, or even just combat-focused action games like Blade & Sorcery if it doesn’t feature a heavy emphasis on RPG elements. We’re also leaving off mobile titles because there just aren’t many great VR RPGs on mobile (other than The Well, you should definitely play that on Go and Gear VR.)
Asgard’s Wrath is not only a step forward for Sanzaru Games as a development studio, but also a fundamental advancement for VR games in general. It’s a captivating experience full of enchanting adventure from start to finish. When people buy a headset with the idea of visiting strange, beautiful, and rich new worlds full of exciting things they can only do in VR, this is the type of game they’re imagining.
There are some small gripes here and there and it’s not perfect by any means, but it’s certainly the best VR game yet that I’ve played. After over 25 hours of questing through the realms of Norse mythology, all I can think about is the laundry list of things I’ve still yet to discover. Asgard’s Wrath is, from top to bottom, an extraordinary accomplishment.
When Skyrim VR was announced at E3, it was like a dream come true for me. The Elder Scrolls is one of my all-time favorite game franchises and the thought of being able to walk the streets of Whiterun and slay dragons in VR was just an incredible proposition. And luckily, it lives up to the hype.
The VR implementation could have used a bit more work since the flat menus and awkward NPC interaction leaves a bit to be desired, but the scale and amount of content is unmatched in VR. This is truly one of the best RPGs ever made, now in VR. If you’re on PC then you can play with mods too!
Journey of the Gods is a simple, yet charming game. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel in terms of action adventure games in VR go and it certainly won’t blow your mind with its visuals, but what we’ve got here is a well-made and tightly designed adventure with hours of content to explore. I’d love to see this turned into a franchise so we could experience a bigger, better, and bolder sequel. As it stands, Journey of the Gods is a delightful and fun game worth adventuring with.
It’s available on both Quest and Rift, providing an adventurous scratch for your RPG itch.
Romping through dungeons with friends is a ton of fun, especially when it’s VR and you’ve got defined class roles. Similar to VR Dungeon Knight, also on this list, Karnage Chronicles is heavily focused on co-op fun. There’s a surprising amount to this one with some solid progression systems and really inventive environment designs keeping you coming back.
It’s still in active development, but you can already experience a lot of great content even while it’s still in Early Access.
From inXile Entertainment, the actual creators of The Bard’s Tale and Wasteland comes The Mage’s Tale, an excellent single-player RPG that pits you against dangerous goblins, deadly traps, and a surprisingly lengthy campaign featuring 10+ hours of content.
This one is out on Rift, Vive, and PSVR and it packs a lot of good RPG fun with some of the best production values in the genre. It’s not open world and is instead extremely linear, but the pacing is great with a fun adventure
While not classified as an RPG directly in the most traditional sense, it’s got most of the core hallmarks in place and lets you immerse yourself in one of the largest and most detailed virtual universes ever crafted. For all intents and purposes, this is a sci-fi RPG epic in our books.
No Man’s Sky is very much more than the sum of its parts. When looked at under a microscope individually, each element can show significant blemishes with plenty of room to be more polished, more dynamic, and more expansive, but to focus too intently on the moving parts and not take it in as a collection of its immersive ambitions would be missing the point. Performance issues and some non-game breaking bugs aside, to appreciate what makes No Man’s Sky VR so special is to appreciate the underlying appeal of VR as a medium. They’re both about exploring a vast, endless sea of fantastical destinations. They’re both about embodiment and unrivaled immersion. And above all else they’re both about becoming who you want to be by exploring the far corners of seemingly limitless potential.
This one holds the crown of being the first-ever actually released and supported VR MMOs. Obviously it can’t hold a candle to Sword Art Online or Ready Player One just yet, but it has laid a great foundation for what’s to come.
Now that is massive overhaul is out and its released on Quest, OrbusVR is bigger and better than ever. Plus you can play for free all the way up to level 10!
Shadow Legend (Read Our Review)
Shadow Legend probably isn’t going to blow any minds or make believers out of anyone that has decided VR isn’t for them, but it does deliver on its promise of offering a feature-filled single player VR RPG that tells a complete story with action and intrigue. Production values and clunkiness aside, the mere fact that Shadow Legend feels like an actual game probably says more about the state of the VR market than it does the quality of the adventure itself. At the end of the day when I lay down my Knight’s Templar sword and finish slaying demons, all I could think is how badly I wish there was more.
Shadow Legend is out on PC VR headsets and is coming to PSVR sometime this year.
This is really the original roomscale VR RPG. It came out at the same time in Early Access back when the HTC Vive first launched almost three years ago and is still one of the best. It’s now out of Early Access and the massive expansion more than doubles the game’s size and length.
Vanishing Realms is the most traditional D&D-inspired game on this list and is all about exploring dungeons, fighting enemies, and bypassing some simple puzzles and traps. It’s a world rife with potential and is still a blast to play to this day.
On the gamut of magic-based first-person action games, The Wizards: Enhanced Editions is definitely one of the better ones. Its spell-casting system is interactive without being too cumbersome and the campaign mode packs a solid amount of content. Plenty of collectibles, a replayable Arena mode, and lots of mission augmentations add up to this being a really fun journey. But some of the repetition, relatively short length, and recycled wave-shooter-style mission structures left us wanting a bit more creativity. I absolutely enjoyed my time with The Wizards, but with a few additions it could have been the definitive VR spell-casting game.
It’s out on PSVR, PC VR, and even Oculus Quest now too.
Having launched its first VR headset in late 2017, alongside a handful of similar headsets as part of Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality platform, HP is preparing to take its next step with the launch of a new headset that diverges from the pack. Road to VR got an exclusive preview of the so far unannounced and unnamed headset which the company hopes will raise the bar on clarity and comfort.
It was a seemingly fitting day—unusually dreary weather for California’s Bay Area—to find myself in the basement of HP’s Palo Alto headquarters, safe from the wind and rain. After being led through secure doors, down an elevator, and along a maze of white hallways, I found myself inside a windowless bunker of a room: HP’s VR Lab, I’m told.
Inside, past a row of computers with various consumer headsets attached, I see two identical laptops sitting on a table off to the side. They’re powered up, with a long tether leading to a headset sitting in front of each. The first I recognize: Samsung’s recently launched Odyssey+. The second easily could’ve been mistaken for a Rift at first glance, but upon closer inspection would prove to be something much different.
Microsoft launched its Windows Mixed Reality platform back in late 2017 alongside a salvo of VR headsets from partner companies (HP, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, and Samsung) which work with the platform. Among that initial set of headsets, all but Samsung’s was built to nearly identical specifications, apparently based around a reference design primarily developed by Microsoft. That left little to differentiate the launch headsets (other than Samsung’s) beyond aesthetics.
This time around, HP is owning the design of its next-gen headset from the ground up. It’s still a Windows Mixed Reality headset—which means it retains the same quality inside-out tracking and ease of setup which the platform is known for (thanks to not needing any external trackers)—but beyond that, HP has crafted a significant departure from its first headset.
‘Copper’, as it’s codenamed, has a distinct Rift-like look to it; a slim, top-strap design with sleek headphones attached to the headband. Upon closer inspection, the rear of the headset sees the top and side straps culminate in a circular structure (designed to cup the back of your head), while the front is encompassed by a heathered material into which the front-facing cameras are embedded.
I wasn’t allowed to take any photos—after all, HP has yet to officially announce the headset; the company would only share a single untextured rendering. But the headset I saw already looked and felt nearly market-ready, despite still being under wraps.
Image courtesy HP
That’s because the device I tried is the very first tooled prototype, said John Ludwig, Product Manager for VR at HP, which means the company is already well on its way to doing production runs of Copper.
Ludwig, who has been closely involved with the development of the headset, walked me through a demo where I strolled around a real-time pre-visualization of an architectural design. Confident in the clarity I’d see through Copper’s lenses, he offered up the Odyssey+ as a side-by-side comparison (currently the highest res WMR headset on the market at 1,440 × 1,600 per-eye). Indeed, Copper’s clarity blew it away.
That’s no doubt primarily driven by Copper’s 2,160 × 2,160 (per eye) displays, which have more than twice the number of pixels as the Odyssey+, and more than three and a half times as many pixels as first-gen headsets like the Rift. Looking through Copper’s lenses, sharpness is a drastic step forward over Odyssey+. And while the Odyssey+ uses a diffuser on the screen (which sacrifices some sharpness in an effort to hide the screen door effect), Copper hardly has a need for a diffuser as the pixel dense RGB-stripe displays make the screen door effect vanishingly apparent.
Copper, Luwig told me, is the direct result of feedback from HP’s enterprise and commercial customers who were already using the company’s existing headset. Overwhelmingly that feedback, as Ludwig said, was “resolution, resolution, resolution,” followed secondarily by “comfort.”
The former is quite satisfied by the new displays (which offer surprisingly vibrant colors for LCD). And while there were a few visual artifacts seen through the lenses (notably a diagonal array of greyish dots across the display, as well as some mura), Ludwig assured me these would be fixed and improved, respectively, as the displays get tweaked before mass production.
Ludwig said that HP’s customers were not nearly as concerned with expanding the field of view as they were with seeing resolution move to the next step. As such, Copper’s field of view is in the Rift/Vive class, though the headset is using all new Fresnel lenses.
As for comfort, HP has completely redesigned the headset’s ergonomics, ditching the ‘halo-style’ headband shared by all previous WMR headsets, and moving instead to the top-strap approach. Copper has a fit and feel that’s much like the Rift, with a velcro side-strap on either side of the head, as well as the top strap, and rigid spring-loaded struts which make it easier to put on and remove the headset without re-adjusting the fit every time.
HP isn’t ready to share details on weight, but Copper sure did feel light, something which Ludwig says that the company focused heavily on.
Offerings from Z by HP, soon to include Copper | Image courtesy HP
Copper, HP says, is being positioned as a professional product, but they plan to make it openly available for purchase by consumers and companies alike. Price has yet to be specified.
The company is primarily pitching Copper as part of a “solution stack” for enterprise and commercial customers which are served by the ‘Z by HP’ brand, said HP’s Sean Young, the Global Lead of Industry Segments at ‘Z’ focuses on professional products and solutions, including VR Ready workstation-class desktops and laptops and a dockable VR backpack. In 2018 the Z group began offering the ‘HP VR Launch Kit’, a kit of VR Ready hardware and software designed to help businesses quickly and easily integrate VR into their product design workflows. The kit will eventually offer Copper in place of the existing HP Windows Mixed Reality headset.
With the upgrades, HP believes that Copper will answer the needs of enterprise and commercial customers who want to use VR for applications where being able to see textures up close, text at medium distances, and objects furthest is important. Specifically, the company expects that training, architecture, and VR LBE customers, among others, will benefit greatly from the improvements.
Young says that, beyond the capabilities of a given product, reliability, serviceability, and global availability are key for larger organizations before they’ll consider integrating new products into their workflow. Copper will embody those aspects right alongside the rest of Z’s offerings.
As for Copper’s launch: HP isn’t ready to say, but 2019 seems like a strong bet at this point. The company is planning a full reveal of the headset in the future where we’ll learn even more. In the meantime, feel free to drop questions in the comments below and I’ll answer what specifics I can about my time with the headset.
.A new Windows Insider build adds the ability to launch classic Win32 desktop applications in Windows Mixed Reality.
Preview build 18329 adds “the ability to launch Desktop (Win32) applications (such as Spotify, Paint.NET, and Visual Studio Code) in Windows Mixed Reality, just like how you launch Store app.” Access the feature by bringing “up Pins Panel, then go to all apps, where you will find a folder named “Classic Apps (Beta)”. In this folder, you will be able to select and launch any Desktop (Win32) applications.”
We are expecting a major announcement from Microsoft later this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company released the standalone HoloLens AR headset in 2016 and is due to release a follow-up. In 2017, Microsoft equipped partners with its tracking technology to power a series of VR headsets. The company’s future plans in VR are unclear.
Microsoft supports Universal Windows Platform apps for virtual worlds to visit downloaded from the company’s storefront. The company also encourages developers to ship on Steam if they have a virtual world that’s built as a classic Win32 app. Traditional flat-screen UWP apps can also be pinned to surfaces in Microsoft’s home space. Until now, though, classic windows apps haven’t gotten the same treatment.
The feature is in development, according to Microsoft, and they are working to address bugs. So be sure to report the bug if you encounter a problem. We haven’t tried the latest Windows Insider builds yet to to test out the functionality but we’ll update this post when we do.
The added multiplayer functionality in a new Early Access build gives players the ability to share music-making sessions with others around the world. One player hosts a room and EXA keeps layouts synced for the various instruments as well as “items, playback states, metronome, and live ringer events.”
“The room can be made available publicly, can be hidden until a player enters the room name, or can be limited to your local network (LAN). The room creator can even put players into a ‘spectator’ mode by disabling some of their room permissions,” developer Zach Kinstner wrote in an update explaining the change.
Calling All Bands
A video further explains the syncing functionality and how it might work better over lower latency conditions. Players can talk to one another and record loops in any network condition — arranging instruments, adding sounds and building up compositions together. Loops, however, transfer to other players upon completion. That process could take several seconds for detailed loops with lots of data to transfer, according to Kinstner. Musicians can add live sounds on top of the loops via their shared instruments — just like a real-life band — in extremely low latency sessions, like over a local area network.
“When latency is low, each player’s ringer events can transfer fast enough for other players to hear the full ringer sounds at the correct time,” Kinstner explains. “In these conditions, you could conceivably play a live performance in EXA, with everyone playing their virtual instruments at the same time, rather than sharing loops. With higher latency levels, you won’t hear the full sound from a ringer event. For example, if an event reaches you 80 milliseconds late, you’ll miss the first 80 milliseconds of that ringer’s sound. As latency increases, it becomes more difficult for live performers to stay in sync with each other, and players should collaborate using recorded loops instead.”
EXA lists support for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
A new VR standard named VirtualLink is set to connect the next generation of VR headsets to PCs with a single USB-C wire. Accell’s VR adapter claims to let current headsets like the Oculus Rift and Windows VR headsets do the same.
The Fremont-based company revealed its USB-C VR adapter this week. It features HDMI 2.0 and standard USB-A 3.0 ports that connect to a single USB-C cable. The company says this will allow you to plug your Rift or Windows VR headset into one of Nvidia’s latest RTX GPUs, which come with a USB-C port. The port was integrated for the eventual arrival of VirtualLink-supported headsets. The cable itself is eight feet long.
As for Vive users? Support is not listed on the website. HTC’s headset has to be connected to a breakout box of its own, which could be the reason why. We haven’t tried it out for ourselves so we can’t comment on any possible added latency and other possible side effects.
Product imagery shows the ‘Oculus Ready’ label posted on the box. We reached out to Oculus and confirmed that the Rift is safe to use with the adapter.
It may seem convenient for Rift users but you’ll still need at least two USB-A ports in the back of your PC to accommodate the tracking sensors. Windows VR users won’t have the same requirement thanks to inside-out tracking.
Accell’s website says the adapter will arrive on January 14th for $49.99. It’ll also be available on Amazon in the US. No word on a European release just yet.
Updated after publication with confirmation of Oculus support.
We’ve been following VR train simulator Derail Valley for some time now. We first played it in early 2017, when we were impressed with the game’s peaceful visuals and realistic controls. Two years on, it’s finally pulling into the Early Access station.
Derail Valley will launch in pre-release on January 18th with support for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows VR headsets. Developer Altfuture confirmed as much in a blog post last month. In the game, you travel between stations delivering cargo drops in different types of trains. You’ll need to learn how to operate your chosen locomotive, correctly attach cargo in the right order and then ride through the country without crashing. As you play you’ll earn money to buy new trains and service your existing ones.
The game packs 256 km² of open world to explore. Trains include traditional steam locomotives, which you’ll need to fuel with coal, and electric shunters. As you progress through the world you’ll move into different job areas that change your locations. Picking up cargo from a forested area, for example, will mean a delivery at the sawmill. Stopping off at the oil well? Then off to the harbor with you. Oh, and as the trailer above shows, it sure is a looker.
Over the course of Early Access Altfuture will be looking to add more types of trains, passengers and even NPC trains. Further down the line the team hopes to add co-op play, mod support and more. You can follow along with a development roadmap here. The developer hasn’t yet said when it plans to leave Early Access. We haven’t seen too many a train simulator in VR yet, so we’re looking forward to this one.
I was half expecting to write that the combined power of the Vive and Vive Pro had allowed HTC to regain the top spot it once held for so long in December’s Steam Hardware Survey. Turns out the opposite is true; the Oculus Rift gained ground this month.
In November 2018’s results, there was less than 1% difference between Rift and the total of both Vive and Vive Pro. HTC looked like it had Oculus on the ropes. But, instead of continuing that trend, December saw the gap grow to 2.28%. Rift ended the month with 46.45% of the total VR user share on Steam (up from 45.88%). Vive, meanwhile, shrank to 40.82% (down from 42.76%). Finally, Pro came in at 2.81% (up from 2.5%).
No doubt Christmas sales helped Rift and Vive Pro grow in December. HTC focused on Pro for its Black Friday promotion and Oculus cut $50 off of the Rift. A lot of the headsets bought in November were probably unwrapped in December.
But don’t discredit the growth of other headsets contributing to Vive’s smaller number. Microsoft’s Windows VR headsets saw a significant leap of their own in December. The range of partner-made devices grew from 7.77% to 8.89%. Again, a wide range of sales, some of which offered the headsets for around $199, probably helped. Samsung also launched its Odyssey+ headset towards the end of the year which caused a stir.
There was also the slightest bit of growth from Huawei’s VR kit, going from 0% to 0.02%. You’ll get there, little guy!
As always, we’ll mention that these figures aren’t a definitive means of measuring the VR market. This is an optional survey and you need to have your hardware plugged in (and using Steam) for it to register. Neither HTC nor Facebook has revealed sales figures for their headsets.
Still, a new year is upon us and we’re excited to see how the scales shift in 2019. More than anything, though, we’re eager to see what new headsets might join the chart.
Now that turkey day has come and gone, holiday shopping season has arrived and we’re tracking the best Windows Mixed Reality Black Friday 2018 deals on the Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, and Samsung Odyssey headsets. The headsets have never been more affordable than now.
Windows Mixed Reality Headset Deal Baseline
Knowing the usual price of the headsets means you’ll know a good deal when you see one. Here’s the MSRP of each of the Windows VR headsets with controllers included:
Acer Windows Mixed Reality – $400
Dell Visor – $450
HP Windows Mixed Reality – $450
Lenovo Explorer – $400
Asus Mixed Reality – $430
Samsung Odyssey+ – $500
And yes, Windows VR headsets can play most SteamVR content through an official plugin.
The Best Windows Mixed Reality Black Friday 2018 Deal
Image courtesy Microsoft
It’s important know that all of the Windows VR headsets, except those from Samsung, share the same specs and are effectively the same headset. That means if you’re looking for a VR headset from Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, or Asus, you’re probably best off buying the best deal on any of them that you can find. It’s also important to know that all of the aforementioned headsets have seen rolling sales for a long time now. So while there’s no ‘official’ manufacturer’s sale on any of those headsets, some of the best discounts are coinciding with Black Friday.
Important Note: The Acer headset (and the others) required a Bluetooth connection to function. If your PC doesn’t already have Bluetooth equipped, you’ll need an adapter. We use this one from Amazon for $8 which has worked flawlessly.
Important Note: The Odyssey+ (model number XE800ZBA) is a slightly newer version of the headset with some refinements which you can read about here. We recommend it over the original Odyssey (model number XE800ZAA). Also note that the Odyssey+ does not require a separate Bluetooth adapter, but the original Odyssey does. Also, keep your return receipt handy; ergonomic comfort on the Odyssey headsets can be hit or miss depending upon your head.
Other Windows VR Black Friday 2018 Deals to Consider
While all of the Windows VR headsets except for the Samsung Odyssey are effectively the same, you may have you heart set on a specific look or a favorite brand. The good news is that all can be found significantly discounted; here’s a look at the current prices for the bunch:
Samsung is offering an incredible early Black Friday deal starting today — its Odyssey+ high end PC VR headset for just $299. This saves $200 (40%) from the regular $499 price. The deal applies only to customers in the United States.
The Odyssey+ is a new refreshed version of the original Odyssey, which was Samsung’s first PC VR headset released in November of last year. The Odyssey+ launched last month, adding a new “anti screen door effect” technology to the OLED diplays, as well as ergonomic and weight improvements.
The Odyssey+ is a PC VR headset that leverages Microsoft’s Windows MR platform built into Windows 10. This platform is the default experience for the headset and the Microsoft Store is the default store, but it also works with SteamVR by using Microsoft’s SteamVR drivers.
The Odyssey+ has the same resolution as HTC Vive Pro, yet is significantly cheaper. The Vive Pro with base stations and controllers starts at $1,098. The main difference in these two headsets is the positional tracking technology. The HTC Vive Pro uses the SteamVR “Lighthouse” tracking system, whereas the Odyssey+ uses the two cameras on the front of the headset for “inside-out” tracking. Lighthouse generally provides better tracking quality with more tracked range for controller motion, but the Odyssey and Odyssey+ tracking requires no external hardware setup, making it less hassle and more portable.
When we reviewed last year’s Odyssey we we impressed, concluding that it sits among the best VR headsets on the market. By some reports, the Odyssey+ is even better and at $299 it’s a steal. Remember, this headset can play most VR games on Steam.
We haven’t seen a VR headset with this resolution ever reach a price this low. Samsung has not said when the offer will end.
