Home VR gets real as ‘hack’ converts hundreds of Unreal PC games to Virtual Reality with click of a button

VR gets real as ‘hack’ converts hundreds of Unreal PC games to Virtual Reality with click of a button

VR has had some great games during its time in the spotlight, but equally, the ability to play your favorite games has long been missing. Many VR games are simply not up to triple AAA standards, and the lack of choice of using your headset as a mobile monitor has, perhaps, halted the takeup of virtual reality headsets.

During the early days of the Oculus Rift – before Facebook bought the company – there was a big movement in the scene to get games such as Skyrim and GTAV working in VR. Modders managed it but largely the games were clunky and unplayable, thus a disappointment that sent many away from the technology.

We have had the ability to play games on virtual monitors with apps such as Virtual Desktop running through our headsets but when it has come to playing an actual mainstream game that doesn’t have native VR support we have been stuck.

Until now.

Prominent VR modder Praydog has released on open-source the UEVR mod FLAT2VR for PC and it changes the game big time. 

VR support for pretty much every Unreal Engine 4 and 5 game is now the click of a button away and you could soon be playing them in a headset such as the Meta Quest 3 attached to your gaming PC rig. Eurogamer reports that even recent games such as Robocop work fine, and many popular games also have configs that have been created by players that make them run even smoother than just using the default settings.

Even though Praydog’s mod is unofficial, the fact it opens up VR access to so many popular games will give a shot in the arm to the technology.

As somebody who has spent many hundreds of hours in virtual reality, the opportunity to play some big games is an exciting prospect indeed. 

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The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Paul McNally
Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media. Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine,…

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