Minecraft is finally on its way for the Oculus Rift as the Windows 10 version of the mega hit social world-building game is due to add VR support “in the coming weeks”.

The game which Oculus CTO John Carmack cited as his “quest” to bring to virtual reality is already available on the “Oculus Powered” Samsung Gear VR platform, but despite that version appearing back in April, desktop users were left wondering when they’d see the promised VR support appear in the Windows 10 version.

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John Carmack, On Stage at Microsoft’s Xbox Keynote at E3 this Year

Well it looks to be ready to drop soon as a recent blog post from Minecraft developer Mojang, who was acquired by Microsoft back in 2014 for a reported $2.5Bn, has stated that they expect Oculus Rift support to be “turned on” in the “coming weeks”, marking the first time the game has officially appeared on the platform.

Minecraft however is no stranger to VR, becoming a firm VR fan favourite in the modded VR version known as Minecrift way back in the days of the Oculus Rift DK1 and on the HTC Vive courtesy of the excellent Vivecraft for a few months now. In actual fact, despite it’s retro-minimalist production design, Minecrift gave VR players a glimpse at the scale and majesty made possible through via the medium.

Minecraft is a game that you can both figuratively and literally lose yourself in,” Carmack says, “In fact, my strongest memories of being inside VR are from the time I’ve spent exploring Minecraft on Gear VR. Experiencing it in virtual reality changes it from an abstract activity to a visceral one – it goes from a sense of playing the game to one of being inside your world, and spinning around to find a creeper sneaking up on you leaves a powerful impression. Infinite worlds have been explored, shaped, and shared by millions of people, and now in VR; that sounds a bit like the fabled Metaverse.”

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The Oculus Rift version is expected to be largely the same as the current Gear VR version, which addresses nausea concerns over first person, joypad/trackpad controlled locomotion by including both the original “more intense” first person mode and a new ‘comfort mode’ which presents the action on a virtual screen within a neat Minecraft-inspired living room of sorts.

No firm date yet then but stay tuned and we’ll let you know as soon as we do.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • Michael Cowan

    Its been on the HTC Vive for months, supporting 1.7.10 and 1.10.2. Full support for the controllers, room scale, teleport of traditional locomotion.

    What is so complicated about Rift that allows a couple of modders to beat full teams of developers?

    http://www.vivecraft.org/vivecraft-for-1-10-is-here/

    • I’m not sure what your point is here. It’s been available for the Oculus Rift since the DK1 days unofficially – so that’s years. The existence of unofficial mods has no bearing on official, commercial releases and hardly ever has. The reasons for the delay almost certainly won’t be technical, but business. And we’re not privy to those. Further, the standards expected of an unsupported mod and of a product you pay money for are somewhat different, so there’s that too.

      That said, I should have included Vivecraft in the piece and will add it in now.

      • Daniel Gochez

        I’m worried that it being an “official” release it will be made for the C version of Minecraft, and it’s quite boring because all the nice add-ons are on the Java version. Add Chroma Hills texture pack and a shader and it looks like a game made in this century.

        • hyperskyper

          Oculus support will be for Minecraft: Windows 10 edition (the version available in the Windows Store). I’m sure there are mods to use the Rift with the far superior Java version. I know there used to be, so updated versions are probably available. I have a Vive and Vivecraft works great with the latest version of the Java edition (1.10).

        • The VR in Minecraft will only be on the W10/PE editions for now. That said you guys on the Java version still have the most up to date game mechanics.

  • DiGiCT Ltd

    The thing I personally dislike about it is the idea of just porting it to VR.
    They should have taken the effort to make a new version for VR instead of porting it.
    Millions of dollars been made out of this game and even cant make a newer version with the focus for VR specific ?
    The game art looks so way outdated, they should feel ashamed for what they did.
    Only can give this way of development a BIG THUMB DOWN.

    • Doctor Bambi

      Have you played the Gear VR version of Minecraft? It’s not just a port to VR.
      There’s a whole slew of settings and functionality added to make the experience comfortable for just about everyone. Not to mention the optimization work that had to be done. It’s really incredible to me that they got this running so well on a mobile phone. I’m sure harnessing the power of a PC will only make this experience oh so smooth.
      The low poly textures are part of the charm and artistic style of Minecraft, if you don’t like them, that’s what texture packs are for.

  • Doctor Bambi

    I’m probably wishfully thinking here, but I wonder if it will have some kind of cross-save functionality with the Gear VR version. Super wishful thinking: if you bought it on Gear VR, you can download it for free on Rift. Dreams man, dreams.