The developer of Virtual Desktop, a Quest app which allows users to stream their PC desktop to the headset for use in VR, says that after the recent addition of a feature which allowed SteamVR games to be played on Quest, Oculus is forcing him to remove the feature.

Guy Godin is a longtime VR developer whose Virtual Desktop app lets users use their PC from within a wide range of VR headsets.

Oculus accepted the Virtual Desktop app onto Quest despite a more strict approach to curation than with its other headsets. However, this was before Godin quietly updated the app with a SteamVR streaming feature which allowed users to play SteamVR content wirelessly from their PC on the Quest headset. For the time being, the feature was an “experiment,” according to Godin, and wasn’t advertised as part of Virtual Desktop, though users discovered it in short order.

Now Godin says that once Oculus caught wind of the SteamVR streaming feature they’re forcing him to remove it:

Hi guys, I’m sorry to announce this but Oculus doesn’t want the SteamVR streaming feature in their store. I’ve been developing in VR for 5+ years and as some of you may know, I like to experiment and push the envelop with the tech. I saw the ability to stream VR content from your PC as a very cool idea. I thought it would be a perfect fit for my app since it already gives you access to your computer. Like a nice bonus feature. I worked on this for months and was eager to improve the functionality as I received your feedback over the last few days but according to Oculus, I am hurting Quest..

As an alternative, Godin says he’s investigating the potential to offer the SteamVR streaming functionality as a separate app that could be ‘sideloaded’ onto Quest, an unofficial means of bypassing the Oculus store to install unsanctioned software on Quest.

Of course this is just Godin’s perspective of what happened. We’ve reached out to Oculus for comment on the decision require the removal of the feature from Virtual Desktop.

Update (6/12/19): An Oculus spokesperson provided the following statement.

“While we don’t comment on the status of specific apps, our Oculus Store application submission system is designed to help ensure that our devices deliver a consistent, comfortable experience to customers. Apps are evaluated on a number of factors including performance, input, and safety with the goal of creating a quality, high-value experience for all VR consumers.”

The implication (seized upon by those supporting the feature) is that Oculus must have made the decision in order to prevent users from easily playing SteamVR content on Quest, thereby protecting the sanctity of Oculus’ closed content ecosystem. However, it’s possible that Godin had breached some development guidelines or rules in order to make the feature work—or that Oculus has some other justification for forcing the removal of the feature.

Because Oculus has been more selective and less transparent about the content they’ll allow on Quest compared to other headsets, there’s considerable wiggle-room for an explanation.

SEE ALSO
This is What 'Virtual Desktop' Looks Like on Oculus Quest

Regardless of the reason, this will surely remind the VR community of the Oculus / Revive debacle of 2016 wherein Oculus sought to block a third-party hack which allowed non-Oculus headsets like Vive to play VR content from the Oculus store. While Oculus argued that blocking the hack was important for the security of its platform and developer’s content therein, the VR community at large felt that Oculus was protecting its closed content ecosystem to the detriment of users. In the end, Oculus reversed their decision and has tolerated Revive ever since.

Responding to a tweet from Godin about the Virtual Desktop issue, former Valve and Oculus programmer Tom Forsythe has a respectably pragmatic outlook on the situation:

“Ideally everyone would work a bit harder to find a reasonable solution.”

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • kakek

    If the quest could play PC VR games, there would really be no reason for the rift s to exist at all.

    The implication for Oculus in tell of sales are kinda obvious.

    • Jan Ciger

      I don’t think that streaming games to Quest is going to endanger Rift – the extra latency is such that many games are very difficult/uncomfortable to playover such connection. Furthermore, the image quality is seriously degraded by compression. This isn’t like streaming video using the wireless HMD adapters (with a dedicated high bandwidth solution).

      It is possible that Oculus has simply forced the dev to remove the feature that was added after the application has been reviewed and approved and which doesn’t meet their quality standards because of the (inevitable) increased latency and image quality.

      This sort of streaming without special hardware adds 60-80ms of latency in the best case and it is very possible that Oculus doesn’t want that sort of “experience” in applications in their store. It would also allow anyone to bypass their curator/gatekeeper role in the Oculus store simply by making a SteamVR application and streaming it.

      But maybe I am too charitable to them …

      • VR-Geek

        I am guessing you have not tried it then, as the experience is on a par with HTC Wireless adapter, and results in a clearer picture than the Rift S, probably as a result of the Quests better screens and hardware IPD adjustment.

        In general the Quest is just a better headset, The Rift S should not have existed, and instead the Quest should have been supplied ready to either use stand alone or connected to a PC.

        • kakek

          Yeah, the real bottom line is we all know it’s a delayed feature.
          They could very well have included it in the quest, through HDMI. They could probably still do it with just a software update. Through wifi or USB. But then, how would they have sold another headset to the same people 2 years later ?

          Better to introduce new features one by one. That way you keep something in reserve to sell need hardware …

        • RattlecanRenoir

          I disagree with the assertion that it’s a clearer picture that the rift s. Higher native resolution, certainly, but compressing video to send over 5ghz still results in compression artifact and some latency. While it is absolutely a viable way to enjoy VR without a tether, it is in no way better graphically or experience wise. Without a dedicated hardware solution like wi-gig there just isn’t enough bandwidth to keep the compression and latency down enough to make it equal. And just to clarify, I think it’s an awesome compromise for those who want mobile AND tethered play capabilities, and absolutely unconscionable that Oculus would make the developer remove it. It’s purely Oculus protecting their castle (Rift S sales along with Quest app and game sales) rather than looking out for the customer. I am also 100% with you that they should have natively given the quest the capability to be a tethered headset from the factory and filled both roles, one headset for all users, casual or hardcore.

        • Foreign Devil

          absolutely! I sure hope Occulus comes out with their own streaming solution for Quest.

        • Jarilo

          This is false, I have the wireless adapter and have now tried the ALVR to quest. The adapter has virtually no latency and I was able to play Sparc, beat saber, and Audica just as it was when I was wired. Through the streaming I would regularly see the latency and in fact would miss boxes in beat saber, Sparc was unplayable. Please, what a blatant lie.

      • asdf

        You haven’t tried it…. Stream to the quest from ALVR, thank me later.
        Its amazing and you will agree every thing else is kind of pointless now that this tech works

        • Jarilo

          Nonsense. It’s still one of the most uncomfortable headsets I’ve ever worn after about 15 minutes and the latency was terrible…and that was compared to my Vive Pro with the wireless adapter that has literally no latency issue what-so-ever.

      • Fanatoli Guyoff

        Haven’t noticed any latency or image issues on my buddies but then I haven’t used thems ide by side and i have a vive myself so it’s apples and chickens

      • Graham J ⭐️

        60ms is less than 4 frames at 60fps. That’s really not that bad.

    • adsa

      I stream to my quest with ALVR and i already now think the rift s is pretty pointless. This streaming feature for PC VR to quest works amazing and is what im going to do for a long long time!

    • USPatriot

      Agreed but I think they made a mistake with Rift S. They should have just discounted the Rift instead.

      • Jistuce

        There’s a lower limit to how far you can discount a product while still maintaining a profit margin. Component costs go down with time, but the cost of manufacture and assembly stays fairly constant. The Rift S is much simpler, and that reduces cost of manufacture.

        It is also possible that some of the electrical components of the original Rift were discontinued by the manufacturers, so Facebook had to design a new headset anyways.

        Which doesn’t mean the Rift S wasn’t a mistake.
        I still don’t get why the Rift S doesn’t share any parts with the Quest. Even if they kept the PC and standalone markets strictly segregated, even if the Quest Tethered still had a lower-resolution display than the Quest Actual, sharing engineering and components between platforms simplifies the supply line and reduces the cost of product development and tooling up for manufacture.
        AND it lets them “synergize the brand” or whatever corporate marketing buzzwords are applicable for having multiple devices in the line with a similar look and feel.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      You really think this streaming option is really comfortable to play compared to natively playing it? It’s just not possible.. The natively connected headsets already have enough problems with latency etc, you think streaming makes it really comfortable to use? It will work, but not as comfortable as playing it natively..
      And you can still sideload it, it’s just not available directly from they appstore where every app/game has been tested on quality/comfort.

  • Daven Bigelow

    Oculus has a UserVoice section, compared to suggestions from May, reversing this decision is sitting 4th on “HOT”.

    And it was posted last night.

    • Paul Maidment

      It’s top of the pile now, highest number of votes.

    • Signed

      • Dan DeMontmorency

        Indeed Oculus probably didn’t like Lucky’s support of Revive either.

  • Mateusz Pawluczuk

    This is where VR industry is going. Wireless, streaming, 5G, eventually cloud. Godin is simply ahead of the curve and to restrict him or his work seems quite short-sighted.

    • Marc-André Désilets

      It’s not short-sighted maybe it’s just because it doesn’t meet their standards. Maybe they are about to create official streaming support to the quest. Who knows ? :P

    • Jistuce

      Streaming from “the cloud” is going to have latency issues. “5G” doesn’t change the speed of light, nor does it reduce the time spent to hand off packets from one piece of hardware to another.

      • sebrk

        Funny you say that because latency is one of the key features of 5G. Look up edge computing. That is where it is at. You don’t know what you are talking about.

        • Jistuce

          You can work to reduce latency, but you canna change the laws of physics, cap’n.

          Nor do you have control over most hardware between the server and your 5G radio. You can minimize the latency AT THE RADIO. You can make the handoff from one radio to the next faster(important given that the high-speed 5G everyone talks about has a very short range, so you will be switching radios often). But most of the latency isn’t at the radio, it is in infrastructure that is only “5G” in the sense that the query originated from a device with a 5G modem several hops down the line.

          5G doesn’t change TCP/IP, 5G doesn’t upgrade business routers deep in commercial offices, 5G doesn’t attach your radio directly to a backbone cable, 5G doesn’t raise the speed of light or install servers in a location near you. It ONLY affects that one wireless hop. And to be fair, that one wireless hop could quite likely be a fair bit better than it is.

          But games in general, and VR especially, require very low latencies that often aren’t attainable even over wired connections that don’t have to worry about interference and oversaturated radio bands. Gaming over the internet has had to include workarounds for multi-frame latency for as long as games have been sending data over the internet, and it hasn’t actually gotten any better in the last quarter-century.

          I GET that everyone believes 5G is magic pixie dust that will revolutionize computing forever and give us instant access to everything in the world. But that is, at best, a startlingly naive outlook, often presented by people who ought to know better. At worst it is a lie foisted upon the ignorant by marketing agents selling radios.

          • sebrk

            Again you have no idea about edge computing. You are talking about current network topology and setup. Get educated and then we can talk.

          • Jistuce

            Edge computing is not part of the 5G spec. And believing companies will, as a general rule, set up servers all over the world to minimize hops and reduce latency instead of in a few central locations to reduce maintenance costs is naive.

          • sebrk

            The influx of additional data that 5G creates with a completely new set of connected devices etc. will drive the need for edge computing. It is already a trend that is growing (see Google Stadia) and inevitable. It will not happen over night but it will happen. Also it is not “companies” but ISPs and network owners who provide it as a service. 5G will change the role of said providers. You’ll see.

          • Jistuce

            Even assuming your dreams are actually prophetic, latency is still an issue with flatscreen games over a one-hop wired LAN connection.
            VR is more latency-sensitive, and a half-dozen hops on a busier network with more interference will have more latency.

            I remain highly skeptical of Stadia and its ilk, and certain that server-side rendering of VR content is a fundamentally-flawed concept.

          • sebrk

            Sure being sceptical is healthy.

            I have tried a 5G demo at MWC with 5ms latency. Admittedly the resolution was around 2880×1440 or something alike. That’s multiple times faster than visual input is being sent from your eyes and processed by your brain. Of course conditions in a demo are not reality but it clearly showed the potential and had my inner sceptic surprised.

          • Jistuce

            5 milliseconds is exceptionally good. Which tells me it was one or two hops to a dedicated server under optimal conditions. And optimal conditions means it was using the 25 GHz radios(the low-frequency version overlaps with existing cell networks, typically oversaturated to the limit of functionality at such events).

            Part of the reason those optimal conditions exist is that those frequencies are currently not used by any devices on Earth, and those conditions will collapse into something resembling the 2.4 GHz hellhole once high-frequency 5G devices ship in any quantity.


            Well, aside from those high-frequency radios have terrible range, so there will be either spotty coverage or an absolute CRAPTON of cell towers erected. Color me cynical, as I’ve never gotten reliable 4G connections at home or work.

            (What I predict will actually happen, based on ISP and telco historical behavior, is the low-frequency version of 5G will be the only one deployed in most places and the ISPs and telcos will brag about the benefits of high-frequency 5G while selling the low-frequency one. The high-frequency version will see JUST enough deployment for companies to claim they offer it. Assuming the “5G Evolution” branding actually dies.)

    • Andrew Jakobs

      There is no restricting him in his work, he added a TEST feature after the app was approved for the appstore.. And Oculus asked him to remove the TEST feature as they cannot guarantee it’s quality/comfort to people who bought the app, and don’t want people to buy the app because of the TEST feature, coming to a conclusion it doesn’t work that good and ask for a refund.. Nobody restrics him in his work, as he already explained himself, he can create a separate app of the feature and you can sideload it..

    • Think

      It’s not short sighted; it’s greedy. Oculus is trying to corner the market by starving all competitors. That eventually makes them the only option and they can charge whatever they please. It’s similar to what Apple does.

    • Jarilo

      Not for a long time. The latency was such crap I could barely hit the boxes in beat saber. 5G for specific VR is a significant ways away.

  • Pete Sparks

    Oh OCULUS ruining your brand and products momentum with a slip of the corporate mask, reminding us all of your owners and motives

    • sfmike

      Making money was never a secret so what is your point?

      • Santiago Draco

        The point that he’s not a troll and you are is self evident. Or did you mean something else?

      • Michael Cowan

        The point is actually not money (there is VERY little money in these early stages of VR). The point is control of the audience. The point is a closed system like Apple Store v.s a more open system like Google Play.

        If they can lock people in, then they can charge huge margins, have exclusive access to customer data etc.

        Apple got pretty lucky and built a huge fan base (which has allowed them to jack he prices of their product up and sell minor improvements for full price each year)

        Microsoft, Sony, etc have tried to replicate this success .. its just much harder.

        The most successful games are open games. Free to mod, free to share etc. Look at Skyrim .. Look at GTA V

        • USPatriot

          I agree with Michael. While yes they need to make a profit, they should also try to attract as much use time as possible. Content is key here and right now content is super limited. I recall an article by Luckey Palmer that said something like even if the headset was free there would be limited adoption due to lack if content and I agree. I’m somewhat of a VR enthusiast (own Dk2, Rift, now Quest) and its troubling how slow the adoption has been for what are great products. By alienating talented developers they are going to make developers think twice of investing the time it takes to make great VR content. This concerns me and it’s against the core mission Luckey set out for the company when it was started. I urge Oculus to lighten up a bit on this for the good of the platform.

        • Jerald Doerr

          Exactly… I was an Iphone fanboy for years… But stuff being pulled like this with apple (Jailbreak destruction) turned me into an Android hero…..

          I just got my friend a Rift S and was real interested in getting my daughter a Quest half because no PC needed and the other half being able to link remotely with Steam.

        • CazCore

          huge margins == money, despite your 1st sentence saying otherwise.

        • “We’re not just doing this for the money, we’re doing this for a Shit load of money!” – Lone Star (and probably also Mark Zuckerberg)

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      • Moe Curley

        Lets all move the medium forward together. It’s going to be a big pie eventually. Some participants in this growth process don’t have a lot of capital to work with. Facebook is not in this group. The quest for more millions (billions actually) is not in the spirit of the current state of the movement. I for one think this walled garden approach is gluttony.

      • crim3

        Making money is the licit goal of any company. But not all the ways of making money are ethical and/or legal.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          And ethics are in the eye of the beholder….

          • crim3

            Tell that to the judge :D
            But…. yes, true, to some extend.

          • aasd

            ahhhh your true colors have shown….
            so basically andrew is saying ethics and morals dont matter because you can have whatever ethics and morals you seem fit…. a community shares ethics, this is not a community but a dictatorship

          • Andrew Jakobs

            uhm, get your head out of your ass please.. Ethics ARE in the eye of the beholder.. if you think otherwise, you’re just naive and thinks your view is what matters and is the ethical view.. which ofcourse doesn’t have to be.. It’s reality and not “showing my true colors”.. Oh and BTW I’m all for a ‘good’ dictator because as most goverments are even more crap with so called hypocritical politicians..

    • Andrew Jakobs

      How is that so? asking a developer to remove a later added TEST feature from an approved/tested app in their appstore is such a big deal? not really, just like the developer himself already explains, he can make a separate app of the feature so you can sideload it and use it like you want.. If Oculus really only wanted you to buy from their store, they would not have added the ability to sideload apps. BUT with sideloaded apps you’re on your own, no support from Oculus if something doesn’t work properly.

    • Yoshi Kato

      Yup. Everyone needs to remember who actually owns Oculus. Facebook isn’t in this to push the boundaries of VR or contribute to the industry as a whole.

      • Buddydudeguy

        Uh, yes they are. And that in turn will generate money.

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        • Kevin Fitzpatrick

          yea because mark zuckenburg really needs more money lol

          • Buddydudeguy

            You realize they’re making money hand over fist right? You do realize VR being where it is now is thanks largely to Palmer Luckey, and Facebook right?

  • Psycold

    Pretty hilarious how confident Oculus users were when the CV1 came out, trying to tell us Vive users that they had the superior experience. Now all I see are rats jumping off a sinking ship.

    • asd

      there are tons of rats just going from one ship to another. Oh hey that ship stopped sinking? lets all jump on!!

    • Marc-André Désilets

      https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

      Sinking ship ? your talking about the vive ship ? I know way more people that are switching from vive to oculus than the other side.

      • aasd

        nothings changed other than wmr gaining ground taken from both hmds…

    • ShiftyInc

      There is only one ship sinking atm and that is that Vive ship.

      • aasd

        well theres still a very affordable microsoft ship….

        • ShiftyInc

          Windows Mixed Reality ship is also sailing with full sails atm.

          • as

            thats actually what i meant to say!

    • sebrk

      Because we had? You know stuff changes with time and new innovations. SteamVR is still a mess and the generally has low quality experiences compared to Oculus. You might not agree with the company but stop your fanboyism.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      huh? The Quest is the best Mobile VR experience at the moment. Reviews of the Rift S are also very good. How are people ‘jumping off a sinking ship like rats’?

  • Lance Obe

    Just avoid anything from Facebook including their headsets, they are nothing but a professional peeping Tom corporation, creepy to their very core.

    • aasd

      as a piece of hardware th quest is great, and trust me im extremely anti-fb. You just cant deny when something pretty groundbreaking is released. other then that i agree.

      • Rob H

        I found it pretty easy to deny them my money tbh. They might have awesome tech but no way I’m giving them a penny just from their history of decisions with Oculus before this even happened. Currently very happy with my Pimax and soon Index. Steam VR isn’t perfect I’ll admit, but I’ll take giving my money to those trying to actually progress the industry in the name of progress rather than exploiting it purely for monetary gain at the expense of their very consumers.

        • aasd

          …this is combining the quest with steam,sooooo its progressing everyone trying to help the vr industry. I think getting vr headsets to the masses via affordability has progressed vr a lot more ten most things.

          • Rob H

            Did you miss the “forcing the removal of” in the title of this article? I’m not saying that the quest is a bad product, or even bad for the market, but it’s delusional to say it’s “progressed vr a lot ten most things”. It’s limited spec and mass market appeal over technological advancement is doing no more than google cardboard did for the industry in terms of progression.

  • Raphael

    Knowing Palmer he will make some contribution/donation to the developer to show solidarity.

  • Bartholomew

    Oculus Rift = console. Can I buy Steam games on PS4? Of course not!

    “I’m a Valve fanboy, now I buy a PS4/Quest so I can buy games on Steam.”.
    LOL are Valve fanboys mentally retarded?

    • adasd

      or for normal people who don’t care to fanboy up…. this is the best situation. I will forever from now on use ALVR or anything else to stream steam games to my quest until valve makes a decently prices wireless headset. If the options the best option, then you jsut cant beat it. and right now wireless vr with the quality of pcvr is amazing. PLUS nobody seems to be talking about how much slower the battery drains and how cool the headset stays when just streaming compared to actually running the game on the headset. its nuts. wake up, or dont. doesnt matter, but though who know are still going to enjoy the benefits of what we can

      • John Overholt

        Luckily he’s about to put it on Sidequest, I’m at least grateful for that.

    • NooYawker

      Were people able to stream Steam games to the PS4 and Sony blocked it? No
      Were people able to stream Steam games to the Quest? YES.

      Did Facebook decide to block it? YES.
      So your analogy makes no sense.
      And calling someone, anyone “retarded” is completely classless.

      • aasd

        yeah it shows hes under the age of 16 if hes willing to just call people he doesnt know retarded or even use that still as an insult.

        also anyone who speaks in terms of fanboys is just a poor person who cant afford the device they really want.

        you rise above fanboys the second you realize oh i can afford both or the best. and streaming steam to a wireless quest is currently the best!

      • Andrew Jakobs

        But you’re blinded by the misunderstanding of why they asked the developer to remove the TEST feature from the app… You’re perfectly welcome to sideload it once the developer has made a separate app of the feature.. The quality/comfort of the streaming just cannot be guaranteed by Oculus and therefore they don’t want it in their store..

    • Rob H

      “Can I buy Steam games on PS4?”

      Of course not! That’s why Sony can charge you double the price for the same game :) Welcome to the world of walled gardens and the idiots who actively lock themselves in them.

    • Jistuce

      You couldn’t buy Steam games on Quest. You COULD, however, use the Quest as a display for your SteamVR games, much as you can use your Windows PC as a display for your PlayStation if you have a video capture device.


      Also, you can still play flatscreen Steam games on your Quest. Just not VR games.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Can you sideload games on a PS4? Nope, can you sideload on the Quest? Yep.. They asked the feature to be removed as it isn’t up to the quality VR they want in their approved appstore.. If the feature would have worked perfectly with almost the same experience as you would have if you were playing the games natively, than they would not have a problem with it. And now you can sideload it (once the developer made the separate app), and if the quality increases to a point where it’s in most cases a very good experience, Oculus propably won’t object to the feature being added back into the app on the appstore. It’s all about being able to guarantee a good experience.

  • Konchu

    I get it why they don’t want this as its an imperfect experience. At least by they high standards they hold I have played with the VR cat and ALVR and they are ok experiences but prefer the native experiences. My biggest issue was haptics though latency was passable mostly but not perfect but no slicy vibrations in beat saber make me sad feels hollow and since I have a Pimax I have other reasons to play on my PC . But I see this as a great option to new VR people access to more games with existing hardware.

    I feel they have been generously open with the quest though. Developer mode has no burden of proof you are a developer to enable and opens the system to a plethora of items and is really not that technical aka we are not jailbreaking or rooting our devices here. This is not really possible with consoles to the same degree. So as long as they don’t mess with this I think this is fair to not things like this in their app store.

  • Marc-André Désilets

    Has the platform is starting to get popular, they are trying to avoid “noise” and make sure that everybody is having a similar standard experience. The same as what you get on console. Rift is a gamin console not a pc monitor.

  • This actually does hurt developers because if devs would not have profit from quest games, then they dont have the motivation to build games for it. It is simple as that.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      How does this hurt developers? He added a test feature after the app was approved for their store (the approval makes sure the app works correctly, with the new test feature they cannot guarantee it).

      • aasd

        taking away incentives.

        • CURTROCK

          Bottom line: If/when Oculus/FB want streaming capability as a feature on the Quest, they will offer it as a feature on their own terms. Its not like VD discovered some hidden gem. Oculus know quite well what is or isn’t possible with their tech. They literally invested billions in VR, but i guess some DEV should be able to dictate how their hardware is utilized, right?

          • as

            well if its that easily possible, and it benefits the user on a device WE FUCKING BOUGHT AND OWN. then yeah me as a dev should dictate how the hardware i now own and i my property is utilized.

          • CURTROCK

            You can use YOUR fucking property as you see fit, just as Oculus can choose which features they will and will not allow APPS to utilize on THEIR app store. Devs to NOT get to dictate release timetables for feature sets that may or may not be made public.

      • I guess that if people would play Oculus/Steam games via Oculus Quest there is no reason for devs to develop for the Quest it self. Any software which provides this streaming is potentionally dismissing reason for developing Quest specific games. I gues that this viewpoint is probably too pesimistic because I think that having a game without pc is still very beneficial, I guess that Oculus wants a console, not just another vr headset and vr developrs will make more money on a console, not on another vr headset.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          I guess you seem to forget you need a good computer for streaming the SteamVR games, it doesn’t run natively on the Quest.. And native Quest games have been fully optimized for the Quest, streaming SteamVR games won’t, and you have to account for the extra latency which dimminished the VR experience considerably.. And nothing stops you from streaming anyway if you want, you can sideload the app once the developer has made the feature into an app (but there is another app already which you can sideload for doing that).

  • Roger Bentley

    i use alvr and it works fine provided you have 5ghz connection come on oculus be smart here, let the app devs do what they want, and just sell some hardware that can boost the signal to make the wireless signal stronger to support wireless streaming and you make money.

    • asfd

      100% agree and thats what im dong, I love it

    • Foreign Devil

      Hmm I didn’t know you could do this. If I could harness the power of my PC on Quest I’d reconsider buying on.

  • Fanatoli Guyoff

    This only hurts oculus. No idea why they would block this. Was considering picking up a quest but I think I’ll just hold out and get an index

    • as

      you can still side load ALVR and it works great, they cant stop that

    • Andrew Jakobs

      It’s a test feature which was added after the app was checked (on quality and comfort) and approved to be in their appstore.. They don’t want test features which might not work properly in their approved appstore.. The developer can create a separate app and have people sideload it (as he already says himself), once the streaming is solid, he can always add it back to his app and have Oculus aprove it.

      • Rosko

        Dude do you work for Facebook or something you literally replied to 90% of these posts?

        • aasd

          right!! and i seriously doubt that once the streaming is is said he can add it back and get it approved…

          • CURTROCK

            you also seem to be posting ALOT on this thread too…whats your point?

          • as

            im replying to dumb comments. Ive used ALVR streaming and its my avorite thing to do(luckly i still can do it) but i truly think streaming vr is the future and to stop this is them shooting themselves in the foot.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          Nah, don’t work for Facebook, and if they would pay good, I wouldn’t mind working there (if I didn’t have to relocate).
          But a lot of people are bitching about something about something which is not what’s actually happening and why..

      • Fanatoli Guyoff

        The fact that someone would decide that people buying into non console VR right now would not want to have test features available to them, just goes to show how ignorant they are of their market.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          It’s not about not wanting the test feature. It’s about quality control in their store.. They have rules on what an app can/can’t do if it’s in their store, that way they can maintain the quality they want to uphold. This feature doesn’t maintain that quality (at this time) so therefore it doesn’t meet the rules of their store.. It’s not that hard.. It’s a bit like with the Apple store, you cannot do whatever you want after the app has already been approved on their store, they might remove it from the store due to you having violated their rules.. It’s not about being ignorant of their market (especially if you know that a lot of non-techies have already bought the Quest too)..

  • Logic and Reason

    This is why Oculus will never get a penny of my money. Greedy corporate SOBs who couldnt care less about their customers.

    • CURTROCK

      The Quest is the most magical and entertaining piece of tech I’ve ever experienced. For $399US, I already feel like I’ve gotten much more than my money’s worth. Your statement just doesn’t ring true. At all. On any level.

      • sdf

        I agree. Im far anti-fb, love pcvr and mobile and this just combines it all into the best experience. also this should work in your favor if u dont wanna support them, yes buy the headset but then never buy an app n just stream!

    • sfmike

      Let me know when you find a company that isn’t trying to make enough money to stay in business and I’ll be there. When VR stops making money it will be gone like 3DTV.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      So you also don’t have an Xbox, Playstation, Apple hardware? because they also all have the same kind of restrictions in their own stores.. It’s a test feature, and Oculus doesn’t want such test features in their handpicked/checked app store, all apps have been checked if they worked perfectly with the Quest, and now a developer adds a test feature which might not work properly.. If Oculus really didn’t care about their customers like you say, they would not have made it possible to sideload apps..

      • Rob H

        Nope, don’t have any of those for that exact reasoning. Why pay double to price for your games on an inferior system like consoles when you can just get it, and so much more on pc. Those devices even charge you just for playing online ffs. Why pay Apple’s rediculous prices for something a PC or Android can do better for cheaper? What point were you trying to make with this? lmfao

  • CURTROCK

    Hey! Guess what? The Quest wasn’t made for PC gamers. The vast, vast majority of Quest purchasers don’t give a rats ass about this, as they don’t own a gaming PC or use Steam.

    • aasd

      i got it for the wireless abilities but now i use it solely for its streaming capabilities. this does matter and its huge. this streaming is the biggest unannounced improvement weve seen in vr. for you to say nobody cares, just shows that you know nothing about the vr industry.

      • CURTROCK

        YOU, do not represent the Quest’s target market.

        • aasd

          I WAS the target market a week ago before streaming from the pc was possible. Things changed that fast. its not about markets and who wants it anymore, things evolved faster than anyone could plan for…. Oculus is trying to reduce the target market that is now growing for streaming capabilities.

    • TJ Studio

      I know, right? I’m going for the standalone route and not streaming PCVR games to my headset.

      • asd

        Then you’re just being ignorant because why not have and allow both for those that do. just cause u dont care for a feature(thats a really fucking huge feature) doesnt mean others dont.

        You guys are missing how revolutionary and even ahead of its time, streaming vr really is…

    • NooYawker

      So why block it then if no one is going to use it anyway?

      • Andrew Jakobs

        They didn’t block it, if the developer makes a separate app you can sideload it.. They blocked it for the reason they cannot guarantee the quality of the feature for their handpicked apps. In the future if the quality can be guaranteed, Oculus won’t have a problem with it. But now people might buy the app pure for the steamvr streaming option, than finding out the quality isn’t that great due to too much latency/artifacts and want a refund because of it..

    • Buddydudeguy

      They should ” give a rats ass”. Don’t be stupid. Quest users get a gimped and niche user library.

  • M Rob

    Valve Index FTW

    • Thunk

      $1000 for the worst god rays and SteamVR software is still a mess.

      • Rob H

        Found the Oculus fan boy.

        • WyrdestGeek

          I’m not sure it’s fair to call him an Oculus fan boy based on just that comment.

          • Rob H

            I’m not sure it’s fair to assume I called him an Oculus fan boy based on just that comment.

        • Smokey_the_Bear

          Found the Oculus hater.

      • Brian

        Literally every review says the LED instead of OLED displays reduce screen door and god ray effects…what drugs are you on exactly? As an Oculus Rift user, I’m THRILLED for the Index.

        • Jistuce

          God rays shouldn’t be affected by the display panel. They are an artifact of the lenses, and those don’t care where the light came from. Reduction of god rays can be solely attributed to better optics design rather than choice of display panel.

        • Thunk

          Literally every review for the Index is talking about how bad the god rays are and how it has the WORST glare. The god rays are in fact only as good as Rift S.

          From the very website you’re posting on, but don’t actually read:

          “With that in mind, when it comes to Index, god rays are an improvement over Vive, and look to be about [b]on par with the Rift S[/b]. But [b]glare is worse than Rift S, Vive, and Vive Pro[/b], and can be pretty obnoxious when you have large, high contrast elements against darker backgrounds.”

          Every time you’re in those dark/ high contrast areas and you see that highly noticeable glare, which completely takes you out of the experience, you’re going to feel like a chump for blowing 1 grand on the Index.

      • aasd

        yeah the software someone jsut hacked to stream over to the quest is a mes… ok fanboy

        • Andrew Jakobs

          what hacking? streaming is just an ability supported by Steam. So I gues it’s your misunderstanding of the actual software..

          • Streaming VR content with head tracking is NOT something supported by steam. But anyway, There’s always Riftcat.

          • Graham J ⭐️

            Steam supports APIs that make this functionality possible, as evidenced by it being possible.

          • aasd

            i mean thrown the fuck together, jesus asshole use your brain

          • Graham J ⭐️

            It’s not thrown together, he put a lot of work into making it happen, including a custom client on the desktop side that sets up a virtual headset. Let’s see you throw that together.

          • No, Steam does not provide this API, hence the need for apps like Riftcat and TrinnusVR. But you are obviously more in the know than I…

          • Graham J ⭐️

            I’ll rephrase. Steam provides APIs for all functionality needed to play on a remote device, including 2D and VR streaming and headset interfaces. Riftcat etc. could not work without these APIs.

      • USPatriot

        Agree, Steam VR software isn’t great yet. Oculus is winning the race on this front.

        • aasd

          thats wrong. oculus is closed off and not accesable or easy to work with. steam has unlimited tools and services.

        • Rob H

          Eh? Do elaborate on what is better with Oculus’ software compared to Steam VR’s.

          • Thunk

            The Oculus Dash UI is leaps ahead better than Steam VR in terms ot ease of use and comfort. Steam VR is still a shit show when it comes to simple tasks like re-centering yourself and general re-calibration on the fly and adheres too much to its clunky room scale implementation.

          • Rob H

            Do explain how “recentering yourself” is a “shit show”, or why on earth you ever need to re-calibrate at all? Last time I re-calibrated was when I moved into my new house 7 months ago, never needed to do it again. Sounds like you’ve just been incompetent when it comes to setup. I will admit Oculus Dash is great, but its literally the only thing I’ve come across that I’ve wanted from Oculus’ system over on Steam VR. Plus, I’d trade that one convenient feature for the flawless tracking I get with lighthouse which also support the soon to be released knuckles controllers and extra body tracking sensors along with a range of other 3rd party accessories any day for that one convenient app. Good look with your smear campaign though, not like you’re in the one place where people actually have experience of both so can call you out on your bullshit!

          • Thunk

            What’s your point, you’ve literally admitted Oculus Dash is better.

            And re-calibration is a hassle with Steam VR every time you want to play from a different location in your room.

            What Rift S lacks in its tracking compared to the Vive, it makes up in with a greater quality of life experience, at a price-point that won’t leave you with buyers remorse every time Steam VR does something janky again to piss you off, or forgets your settings as it often does.

          • Rob H

            Yep, Oculus Dash is good, but that doesn’t make up for Oculus’ other shortfalls. And nice continuation fo bullshit you’re talking about there. Once again, if you’re having to recalibrate just because you’re standing in a different location in the room you’ve already set the lighthouses up in, you’ve done the setup wrong. Like I said, I’ve had it in the same room for 7 months and haven’t had to re-calibrate it once and I don’t stand in the same spot when I play, the tracking covers the entire room accurately. Can’t really say I’ve had Steam VR do anything “janky” in the 2+ years I’ve used it either, nor has it forgotten my settings as you claim it does often. This all screams of user error. Plus, the price point is irrelevant, that’s like saying a ford fiesta is better than a lambo because its affordable. Keep believing Oculus software is somehow superior while steam VR users move to next gen controllers over the next couple of months with the ability to use extra body sensors, 3rd party accessories and all on a more accurate tracking system :) After all, ignorance is bliss.

          • Thunk

            Lol, those “next gen” controllers are incredibly myopic in the grand scheme of things, seeing as VR is still in its infancy and the fact that Rift S is objectively not the Rift 2, which is still in development. So stuff like knuckles will become redundant once hand tracking with deep learning support API’s becomes the true industry standard for finger tracking in VR. As for your lack of tracking issues with Steam VR, that’s entirely subjective to you and your room set up, but the general consensus and a bit of Googling shows that most people agree that Steam VR is a mess, and is another product that’s sitting on “Valve Time”, and lackluster and limited development support from Valve.

          • Rob H

            Really would love to know what fantasy land you live in where you can just pluck your own made up facts out of thin air and expect people to believe a word of it without question. Hand tracking does not suffice in a lot of games except those that are basic in comparison for many reasons that should be plainly obvious. Thats without mentioning the fact that, in any game with tools (e.g. weapons) you’ll want a controller, not to be waving you hand around pretending to be holding something. Not sure what delusional, non nonsensical train of thought has taken you to any other conclusion to be honest, but then again, judging by your other ridiculous fact bending statements I shouldn’t have expected any logical input from you.

            And thanks for confirming; so it is user error on your end regarding the fact you’re incapable of setting up the tracking correctly. I have to deal with the same thing day in day out as a technician at work with people claiming their PCs aren’t working, only to find 99% its working fine, it’s the user not doing something correctly.

            “Googling shows that most people agree that Steam VR is a mess” would love to see that fictional evidence that shows the majority of steam vr users think its a mess.

            “lackluster and limited development support from Valve”
            thanks for writing that and making it plainly obvious to anyone reading you have literally no clue about anything relating to VR if you’re actually dumb enough to come out with a statement like that.

          • Thunk

            At the end of the day, you actually admitted to the fact that the Oculus Dash UI is better, so further discussion of comparing the UI’s is moot anyway.

            But the fact remains, Oculus Dash is a better software UI and environment for actually using your PC while in VR, allowing you to freely multitask and pin your virtual screens around you as you play. The $1000 Valve index objectively has a worse UI, and has a worse set up and worse set of systems for achieving simple tasks, such as on the fly recalibration or how the audio often needs to reconfigured. As I said before, a simple Google search reveals loads of people who think the same way, that Steam VR is still a mess:

            https://www.google.com/search?q=steam+vr+mess+site:www.reddit.com&client=firefox-b-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjC586ek-niAhUfSBUIHRIqBcsQrQIoBDAAegQIBRAL&biw=1920&bih=912

            Now, let’s address the second point and that’s the god rays, and most importantly, the glare of the Valve Index:

            “With that in mind, when it comes to Index, god rays are an improvement over Vive, and look to be about on par with the Rift S. But glare is worse than Rift S, Vive, and Vive Pro, and can be pretty obnoxious when you have large, high contrast elements against darker backgrounds.”

            https://www.roadtovr.com/valve-index-preview-dslr-oculus-rift-s-point-and-shoot/

            So that’s $1000 not only for an objectively inferior software UI and worse set up compared to the Rift S, but God Rays that are only on par with it, and it has the WORST glare. So you’re paying $1000 for a headset, where that every time you’re in dark/high contrast areas you’re going to experience the worst most immersion shattering and obnoxious glare?

            And any of the improvements Index has when it comes to controller tracking, etc, is irrelevent because the Index is only targeting a very small hardcore demographic and developers aren’t going to optimise for Index’s features if it’s only a small % of Steam users that own it; it doesn’t feasibly make sense. Knuckles will become a gimmick like Vive’s external trackers, that only used for Steam shovelware and shit social games like VR Chat, where the leg tracking looks terrible anyway. Already, Steam survey data shows that more Steam users are using Oculus, so you can pontificate all you want but at the end of the day nowadays it’s all about parity and unless Valve is footing the bill, like Epic, and paying for these exclusive features, I don’t see many developers supporting them.

          • Don’t you mean “Valve?” Cause Vive is no longer Steam’s Baby! The Index is Valve’s Device!! Lol. Easy n3wbie mistake to get that confused! I mean your talking the “Refreshed” headsets correct?! Cause Rift-S is Oculus’s Refresh, so it wouldn’t be all that fair comparing Rift-S to the now older Vive! Both Oculus CV1 vs the HTC VIve had good tracking! It’s just now that Rift-S has taken over in Oculus’ PC forefront line of Devices, we must assume that you’d be comparing Rift-S to Steam’s Newest Iteration as well! There’s good and bad on both sides of the Spectrum. Valve with Index has taken the Controls to a whole new level, which is rather Ironic since Oculus was winning for awhile in that regard with touch over Vive’s Clunky controls! They’ve kept to their Tacking Pods and thusly Index will indeed be the winner in regards to better tracking over Rift-S’s inside out tracking and that also works out the gate in Dark Environments without need of special Modifications say like IR-Room Lights to track in Low Light settings! I will say that Oculus has the best Home and best Software both Home and Dash is just a total game changer for the VR Ecosystem!! It’s just too bad they don’t adopt something cross platform, though I get where Oculus is coming from! They did the hard work and they need something to push their brand over the Competition, even if that’s now unfortunately their Software that’s keeping their PC based VR afloat now! Both devices are sucking in terms of being LCD Displays, so that really sucks! I guess when it comes to PC, the Winner is undoubtedly Index in regards to it’s performance, Ergonomics, usability, flawless tracking, and of course super next level High Frame 120hz -144hz refresh rates!! It’s easy to overlook the lacking Home / Dash software suits for those benefits, though it is a tough pill to swallow having to drop those cause it just would be AMAZING if Steam had Software on the level of say Dash and what not! That’d put Steam VR on the Map as best PC VR certainly!! I guess though they’ve focused their attention on Hardware mostly, which works for them and works for bringing what truly matters when in an actual VR game or what not, the best experience you can practically get to date via on a Hardware based level that is! ((Not counting those other devices such as Reverb or Pimax cause those devices are like Enterprise / Prototypes still and not Refined Consumer VR Products just yet!!)) It’s just with me personally, it’s interesting where high end PC VR is headed, however I’m still not liking the change to LCD, to me that’s a bit of a Deal-Breaker! Of course future iterations will opt for a newer form of OLED or Micro LED with a sort of RGB substripe! PSVR did such! Custom OLED screens with RGB! By the time gen 2 devices make rounds, they’ll be high enough resolution anyhow that Pentile pixel arrangements in OLED panels wouldn’t even matter for Screen-Door effects anyhow! I sure hope this doesn’t become the new norm for PC VR though! I’ll really miss those rich OLED like beautiful Colors / Pure Blacks! It’s kinda funny how PSVR did so well, despite lacking a ton of PC functions like Touch controls and all that just based on Sony’s ability to Pump out Fantastic VR experiences! It’s not even all that Anemic a thing either! It’s like, I’ve been told that X-Box one X and say Play Station 4 Pro all had console like versions of a GTX 1070 GPU which was a GPU that handed PC versions of VR rather well! Thus it’s not really fair to say that PSVR was something of a “Non-Contender” due to it being an Non PC VR device! Folks just kinda opted that one as some junky stripped down console entry level VR thing, but it went off to sell more and do better than both Vive and Oculus Rift! HAHA!! Goes to show that not only was it similar in power / performance when looking under the hood, it also was better in terms of Applications, that is unless you don’t factor in the Exclusives that were on VIVE or Oculus that just coudln’t be done with the Limitations of PSVR’s controlls, so technically if PSVR jsut had their own version of better touch controls, it’d have been on the same level as those devices! But I’ve discovered that Touch controls is only scratching the surface, that just having those doesn’t mean your apps or games are any better! Something SOny truly one upped them all with! I’m sure all eyes in the Industry will learn a valuable lesson from Sony After-all moving forward with VR as a whole! Numerous Articles pointed to Sony being a much bigger threat / competitor than originally expected!

          • Jerald Doerr

            “The Oculus Dash UI is leaps ahead better than Steam VR…”

            You got to be kidding me… Those little kiddie / old folks cell phones with big colored buttons and numbers are easier to use than a normal cell phone…. That don’t at all make it better! Steam VR works for me just fine… But yeah my 4-year-old has an easier time in Oculus store…

      • Henrik ‘Walter’ Peytz

        *extends middle-finger, mostly because Ocultists lack the ability*

        • Jarilo

          lmao, even Vivers soon can too.

        • Thunk

          Finger tracking will negate Valve’s investment in that technology entirely over time. Also, if all people use it for is to flip people off in multiplayer games, I don’t really care.

    • Buddydudeguy

      $1000 for gen 1 VR. Have fun with that.

    • Lamanuwa

      I don’t think I will return to tethered VR ever again after trying the Quest. No wires is the best in VR.

  • Drew Baker

    Well, I was thinking about getting an Rift S, but I don’t really want to risk buying a headset from a company that is openly hostile towards my existing game library.

    • ender707

      Buy what you want, but as an fyi the rift cv1 and S work well on steam. In my experience much better supported than WMR on steam.

      • Rob H

        I think you entirely missed the point -> they work well on Steam until Oculus just decide one day to block it because they can, like they have done here.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          oh please get your head out of your ass.. they haven’t blocked anything, they just asked the developer to remove the feature because they cannot guarantee the quality.. If they didn’t want you to be able to do it at all, they would not have supported sideloading apps.. If they remove sideloading, well yeah, THAN you have a point.. But now all you have is a blinded hatred for Oculus based in this case on your own misunderstanding of the situation.

          • Rob H

            This isn’t the first time they’ve taken steps to limit any interaction with steam VR and you’d be extremely naive to think it’s the last. If they were really concerned about the quality of the streaming, simply give a warning message before using it that quality could be impaired but still give the option, not completely remove it altogether. It’s like youtube removing the option for you to play their videos in HD for everyone because someone might have bad internet and it would affect the quality of the playback as it could keep stopping to buffer.

            Oculus have shown multiple times they’re purely in this for the monetary gains, sadly the complete opposite view of what it’s founder put all the hard work in for and ultimately why many with it’s original principles no longer work for them (see news reports of those who’ve left the company already). If you don’t want to look at the blindingly obvious evidence that Oculus is pushing towards an anti-consumer closed ecosystem purely in place for profit, that’s up to you, after all, ignorance is bliss. It doesn’t mean their products aren’t good quality or enjoyable, you’re free to spend your money however you want to. As such, I instead give my money to support those companies actually taking steps towards progressing the technology as an industry as a whole instead giving it to company already worth billions and are greedily grasping for more through anti-consumer practices. They are infamous for selling and leaking personal data illegally, Facebook itself was a stolen copy in the first place they had to pay legal damages for, their advancement advancements in VR since Facebook bought the company were also from stolen copyrighted material (see the lawsuits they’ve faced with). Those aren’t “misunderstandings”, they’re legal facts. That’s not a company that’s getting any of my money when there’s already other great products out there to enjoy instead and offer much more that any Oculus device currently does.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            It’s not up to them to add warnings in apps. They have rules about what can go into their store, they test and make sure the app in their store are up to the quality they expect and which gives a good VR experience/comfort. This feature doesn’t work properly (yet) and therefore it doesn’t meet the criteria of the tested/approved app which hit the store. therefore they asked the developer to remove it. If the developer can get SteamVR streaming working like a charm with a comfortable VR experience, than the developer is propably free to add it again.
            It’s not like youtube removing the option for you to play their video in HD, as Oculus isn’t the developer of the application.

            And no Oculus hasn’t shown multiple times they’re only in this for they monetary gains, they’re a company, they have to be realistic (which a lot of people here just aren’t and think a company can easily put out a very high end headset for a low price).. Valve is doing it to get more people to buy games through their SteamStore (everything valve does is for the benifit of sales on their store), and steam is just as closed as the oculus store, just like htc’s viveport..
            And it’s your blindness for highend features that misses the point of a company like Oculus going for getting more people into the VR game and not focussing on a very small group of people who are only interested in highend VR, that market it just too small.
            And how can you blame facebook for the suggested stealing by Oculus of technology.

            Oh sorry, it’s “THEN” and not “THAN”, english is not my native language so I will make some mistakes when it comes to grammar etc.

          • Rob H

            “It’s not like youtube removing the option for you to play their video in HD, as Oculus isn’t the developer of the application.”
            It’s exactly like that, as Youtube isn’t the creator of the video either, both Youtube and Oculus are the publishers in both cases, hence why I made the analogy.

            “And no Oculus hasn’t shown multiple times they’re only in this for they monetary gains, they’re a company, they have to be realistic” didn’t even bother reading past that sentence, you made it pretty clear it’d be like me trying to argue with a religious person, there’s just no point arguing with that level of delusional.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            Uhm, in your example you are referring to Youtube removing a feature of their site ‘HD video’ due to not working properly on some devices, now you’re using the end video as an example, that’s completely different from what you actually used as an example. It would be more like youtube removing the video because the content of the video was not in line with the rules for posting video’s on their service.. THAT’S what would have been a better comparisson, as THAT’s what’s actually is going on here.. The developer was asked by Oculus to remove the TEST feature as it’s not in line with the rules of their store (to have not tested/properly working features in the app).

            And in regard to trying to argue with a religious person, well, that’s exactly how I feel when I see your comment on the subject.. You’re the one that’s delusional, you’re not being realistic in goals of a company.. But if you think you can do better, then hee, why don’t YOU go and create the perfect VR headset with all the highend features people like YOU expect, and try and sell it for a consumer price (which means max $500-$600). You seem to know that it would be possible to do that AND make a bit of a profit to ensure the existence of your company for the foreseeable future… Maybe you should try to look at it from a more realistic perspective.. At this point in time, GPU’s are not fast enough to drive the highend headsets you want (even with stuff like foveated rendering and eyetracking with next to no latency), and the GPU’s that are even close enough are way to expensive for the larger market (which is needed to get your R&D/manufacturing/support costs back and again make a bit of profit to ensure the existence of your company). Even adding wireless to PC headsets is not cheap and still has a lot of problems..
            Because Oculus isn’t going the direction at this moment YOU want doesn’t mean they are standing still in their R&D labs.

          • Rob H

            I’m really not sure how you’re struggling to understand such a simple concept of such a simple analogy: Oculus is the publisher and delivery method of the app just as youtube is the publisher and deliverer of the video in the analogy. But, more importantly, it doesn’t have any relevance to the point being made which should be pretty obvious if you had a basic understanding of it. But I guess it’s pretty obvious logic and basic reasoning aren’t something you’re familiar with. Did myself a favor and saved myself some time by not reading beyond your first sentence if that’s what you’re still stuck on and struggling to come to terms with an irrelevant side note of such a simple point, so I’m sorry you wasted your time writing all that. It was pretty obvious from your previous comment already it’s a waste of time trying to reason with someone who doesn’t want to give up their delusional train of thought.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            hmmm.. funny, I guess I’m not the only one who isn’t familiar with logic and basic reasoning, reading your posts tells me you are even worse than I am. and not giving up on your delusional train of thought is a big problem you have yourself.. How’s life in the looneybin, nice of them giving you time behind a computer to type all your nonsense..

          • Rob H

            Nice job with that comment adding so much to the conversation. Totally doesn’t just look like a desperate attempt to regain some credit and to have the last say!

          • aasd

            no just hatred for idiots like you

        • mirak

          Just don’t buy a Quest to play pcvr.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      uhh, how is Oculus hostile towards your existing game library? Rift S works perfectly well with SteamVR games.. And no, Oculus will never block access to steam VR, as they will know it will hurt them more..
      People really seem to forgo on the fact the streaming option just isn’t up to par with the quality expectation of Oculus and therefore if people would buy the app just for the steamvr streaming but don’t think the experience is great and want a refund, they have to refund according to their own policies.. But they didn’t aprove the feature, so therefore they asked the developer to remove it (for now). And you can still sideload the app that will make you be able to use SteamVR.. If Oculus didn’t want you to be able to use apps not the on Oculusstore, they would have not let you be able to sideload.. But by sideloading they have no obligation of helping you if something goes haywire..

      • aasd

        they did just block access to steam vr. THATS WHAT THIS WHOLE FUCKING THING IS ABOUT. are you fucking stupid?

        • Graham J ⭐️

          Can you put a few lot more hours into your anger management class please? Thx

        • Andrew Jakobs

          No they didn’t, they asked the developer to remove the test feature, that’s something completely different than blocking access to SteamVR, the only way they could do that, is by adding some sort of firewall into their firmware so no app would be able to do that.. Well, THAN I would have to agree with you… But in regard to being stupid, maybe you should look into the mirror?

          • Gerald Terveen

            while aasd is completely out of line on the language … he does have a point on the issue.

            that “test feature” is SteamVR access. saying “it is just a test feature, what is the big deal?” is ignoring that they just demonstrated that they are likely to shut down serious efforts to bring SteamVR to the Quest.
            And as the article says …this reminds us of the ReVive and their less than honest way to address that. And in the end the community won … so lets hope the community will win again, because even though I expect it might take years of refinement before I would be happy with it – the feature itself would be very important to me.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            Again, at the moment it’s a TEST feature, and it wasn’t approved by Oculus when they tested the app for their store. The quest store has stricter rules on content. You’re perfectly welcome to sideload the app.. Once the feature works ‘perfectly’ and comfortably on the Quest, I don’t think Oculus will have a problem with it. But as it stands now, the feature doesn’t work properly yet and that’s not what an app in the quest appstore is about. It’s the same with iOS for instance, if you get your app approved to be in Apple’s store, but you add a feature that is against the rules for their store afterwards, they remove the app from the store until you fix what’s against their rules.
            In this case it’s propably that the feature does not work properly, but it could also be that it’s using some way to get this working which is not in line with the approved API’s for store apps (which ofcourse is needed if they want to release another device or itteration which might have slightly different hardware).

            Back then it was trying to block OTHERS from using their store content on the vive (which wasn’t a certified device for the Oculus SDK, and it was possible for HTC to work with Oculus to get the vive working officially with the Oculus store, but HTC didn’t want to do that, due to having their own Viveport and deal with Steam), which ofcourse is a complete different matter than what’s going on now.

          • mirak

            It hurts the Rift S.
            Simple.

            Though I agree with you that if you want pc vr, buy a pc headset.

            A lot of efforts has been made to reduce latency, and WiFi wireless solutions on Vive and Rift never went commercial, that’s for a reason.

        • Rob H

          Ignore the dude, he’s full on delusional.

      • Joe Holliday

        Most of us spent $20 for the app specifically for that feature well outside of the refund period and don’t use the app for anything else, so yes it is hostile towards existing owners of this application.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          But you forget one thing, the problem lies with the developer, he added a feature that was not approved by Oculus for the app he has approval for. It’s a bit like sending in ‘Hello world’ for approval to get the app onto the official store, and then replace the app completely with a naked bunny hopping beach volleyball game through an update..
          The option itself wasn’t available for a long time, so it couldn’t be that you spent $20 on a feature well outside the refund period..
          You think Apple would allow it to stay on their store? think again.. The developer is the one to blame, he could have added it as a separate ‘sideloaded’ feature (which he later did).
          There are rules for adding and keeping your app to the official store, the developer broke those rules and therefore the app was removed temporarily.

  • Rook

    *refrains from fanboism war*

    I have a GO and have been streaming riftcat (ALVR with a GUI) for ages now
    I see the way, I know it works great!
    apart from the infrequent artifact compression. (adjustable)

    if Oculus embraces this method then there way ahead in the game.

    Obviously can see why they have done it tho, its for inexperienced users using it and Oculus technical support being swamped by these users.

    Give it time and keep working on it ! once it becomes easy then everyone can use it. As there are a few layers of software workarounds to get it functional at the moment.

  • Bartholomew

    Thanks to Epic and Oculus for making those f*cking retarded Valve fanboys cry every day.

    • asd

      lol tears of joy?

      Everyone hating on epic right now, and for good reasons.
      and this is an article about something oculus did thats negative.
      So are you being sarcastic or what?

      • Andrew Jakobs

        what good reasons? the epic store isn’t limited to a specific hardware platform, so if you have windows you can play the games (and in the near future it will also support mac/linux). Just like you can with Steam… The Epic Games Store isn’t anything different than the Steam Store, the Steam Store also has it’s exclusives (which in the past also have been subsidized by Valve sometimes)..
        People bitching because of the EGS are just a bunch of hypocrites… (and I too have a very large library in Steam).. The biggest problem? Not having a universal library, THAT’s the real problem..

        • adasd

          They already were selling and discounting games without asking the creators permission or even notification. Theyre partially owned by tencents. im a vr developer and unreal engine sucks donkey dick. theyre stealing borderlands 3…. they take a higher cut fro the games earnings than steam. and we dont need to divide the market up anymore when steam is great

          • Andrew Jakobs

            Unreal Engine doesn’t suck, it’s an excellent engine (been using it myself too), the fact you’re saying it sucks donkey dick makes me think you’re not a professional vr developer. Uhh, how are they taking a higher cut if they take 15% whereas Valve takes 30%? And if you’re already using the Unrealengine your even better off with EGS than on steam, otherwise you have to pay an extra royalty to Epic for the use of the unrealengine (which ofcourse makes sense).
            It’s bullshit that they divide the market up, it’s already very undesirable that Steam has some sort of monopoly on that.. It’s not healthy to only have one digital store.. Oh, but it happens to be your favorite store, ohh no, but then it’s OK………..
            And in regard to selling/discounting games, it also happens a lot on steam.. And the discount comes from Epic’s pocket, the developer gets the full price…
            They’re not stealing anything..
            And it doesn’t matter they are owned partially by tencents, a lot of other companies are also owned by other (Chinese) companies..

  • Bartholomew

    Oculus Rift/Quest owners buy games on SteamVR to thank Valve for make big budget VR games like Stormland, Asgard’s Wrath, Defector, Lone Echo 2 and Respawn’s VR Shooter…

    • aasd

      meh those are part of the walled garden.

      we may be quest owners, but were still steamVR at heart because then we can be part of the rest of the world. soloing oculus market would be shitty

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Valve hasn’t made one real VR game themselves at the moment..

      • aasd

        he was being sarcastic. goddamn you really are stupid, you should stop commenting all over the place with the first thing that comes to your mind.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          I think you should take your own advice..

      • Rob H

        Whoosh

  • Foreign Devil

    Oculus should have had a streaming option on Quest from the get go. . as everyone was requesting. He has proven it is easy enough to implement with existing hardware.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      But it can never be as smooth as playing it natively.. VR headsets already have problems enought to have a smooth ride when played natively, add the latency from streaming and you have a so so experience.. But as Kevin Brook nicely points out, it’s only removed from the appstore, but you can still sideload it once the developer creates a separate app (as the developer says himself in the article).

  • Santiago Draco

    Another reason to avoid Oculus products.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      So you also avoid all Apple products (well at least i do)..

  • Kevin Brook

    All the articles about this today are very misleading in my opinion. Wireless streaming has not been banned, and you can still do it on the Quest, it’s simply that they have asked a developer to remove the feature from their app on the store. If you want to stream wirelessly you simply sideload the software. I don’t see any problem with this at all. The Oculus Quest has its own curated software store where everything is vetted and approved by Oculus, who then stands behind the software with support, refunds, warranties etc. They obviously cannot provide support for a feature that enables the use of a rival software platform so they have to remove it. If they didn’t and people purchase the software and arent happy with the latency, or lets say they think its somehow damaged their Quest, then it becomes Oculus’s problem seeing as they are officially providing the software.It’s offers access to a third party’s content who aren’t partnered with Oculus so obviously they aren’t going to support it. But they aren’t blocking you from doing it yourself, just sideload the software and you’re good to go.

    It’s no different from them blocking an app that allows access to Kodi or bit torrents. You can’t have official apps offering unofficial support to third parties its just common sense.

    But if you want to stream wirelessly from Steam to your Quest you absolutely can, its just not an officially supported feature so of course they can’t sell it on their store.

    • Tharny

      Thank you.

  • USPatriot

    Bad optics and bad decision Oculus.

    I bought a Quest on release day and it works well but wow there is such a limited selection of games to play on it. To be able to play Steam VR games would enhance my use time with the quest. Right now I’m kind of regretting buying it because it just sits on the shelf due to limited content. Come on Oculus – stopping this feature is wrong. I hope the developer does release a side loading app.

  • Raj Anrold

    sorry but your speculation is incorrect.
    Mark has plans to release a streaming service for quest and they dont want any competition. thats all. We’ve been working on it at FB for the last 6 months and should be rolling it out very soon.

    • aasd

      you should talk to ben here at road to vr and confirm some of that

  • Trip

    Semi off-topic the Oculus “exclusive content” is a major rubbing point for me. Enough to make me unlikely to ever buy another Oculus product. So many great games they make exclusive. Let your hardware stand on it’s own, and sell your damned games to everyone you bastards! Thank goodness for ReVive.

    • beestee

      That is a pessimistic way to look at exclusives. The optimistic way is that the exclusive content wouldn’t have ever been made without the funding that was devoted to advancing the new medium.

      And why just Oculus exclusives? Shouldn’t all companies producing exclusives fall under the same category? Guess what, you’re stuck buying 3rd party hardware if you won’t buy from a company that is producing exclusive content for their hardware…and even then, you have to buy your games somewhere and then you are still supporting a company that produces exclusive content for their platform.

  • Nads

    They just want to rob the audience as much as they can, they are worried that if wireless streaming goes mainstream on there store and anyone can access it, firstly it will just get better and better to the point where it works perfectly and secondly no one would buy there games from the quest store anymore!

    They already tried robbing us by making two separate devices (Quest and Rift S) then they robbed us again making two separate app stores, so that people end up buying the same game twice or even thrice if your a steamVR user!

    I would have surely loved this feature to be explored and worked on further as most of my games library sits in steamVR and that’s where I want to keep it so that I can enjoy the games on any headset I buy in the future!

    • Andrew Jakobs

      Nobody robbed you… You don’t need to buy this headset. And at the moment we still don’t know for sure what the reason for blocking it is as the Quest also has the option to sideload, so they know if it isn’t available through the store, people can always sideload it.
      And it’s not Oculus who ‘forces’ you to rebuy a game for the quest if you already own it for the rift (through the oculus store) or vice versa, it’s up to the developer of the app/game, so if you have to rebuy it, it’s the developer who wants you to pay twice, not Oculus (ofcourse Oculus could have forced it on the developers, but they didn’t so if you want to blame someone, blame the developer)..

      And the feature will be explored and will be worked on further (as you can read from the comment of the developer himself).

  • Jarilo

    It’s just funny because it took the anti-PC Quest boys and attached them back to the PC, wireless, but never the less so. You can’t unfortunately for them stream comfort, and that is the worst headset I have ever put on my head on those terms.

  • Jeremy Frost

    Well I’m not sure if any of you have looked or not but there is info about this on the Virtual Desktop webpage. It’s worth a look :D

    • as

      ohhhh niceeeeee

      q n a section

      “Can I play SteamVR games?
      Yes but this feature requires you to sideload Virtual Desktop once you have purchased the app in the Oculus Store. This can be done easily by using SideQuest and following the instructions in the app. You can download the apk manually from here.

      Launch SteamVR once you are connected to your computer. It is recommended to run Room Setup and select “Standing Only” mode to avoid height issues.”

      https://www.vrdesktop.net/

  • Goy Showalt

    Disgusting that the freak who wrote this article felt the need to defend an obviously money-related business decision. What a beta shill.

    • CURTROCK

      The journalist who wrote this article is a well respected member of the VR community, whose opinions – unlike YOUR’S, actually carry some well earned merit.

  • Pakul

    I guess the quest is out then..

  • The Bard

    Fuck you, facebook and oculus. Damn greedy losers.

  • GSGregory

    Will I ever buy or trust an oculus product? Nope.

  • RockstarRepublic

    Everything touched/owned by facebook turns into shat. I will never buy an oculus product again.

  • brubble

    Yeah, they could make the HMD of the decade but in light of their policies I’m no longer interested in Oculus whatsoever.

  • Lamanuwa

    Oculus needs a lot of traction and good faith from their customers at this point in the game, if they are to survive alongside the tech giants that have entered and will soon enter, in order to survive long enough to hold market share.

    I believe this to be a turning point for them. Things could go downhill from here, and open up the opportunity for another company to get in the game without all these restrictions.

  • pottergreen

    There is a market for a wireless system with a mid-range price and the ability to interface with any content provider. Occulus should go for it, sell lots of units and with that dominance, start directing their users to their own supply of media with sales and specials, improved performance with games tailored to Quest.

  • pissedoffcustomer

    This is f’ing ridicules. Thank you oculus for pushing me to sell my quest and go to vive. Trash a** developer. I hope this drastically reduces the popularity of oculus and they go out of business.

  • Smorfnimda

    How the Frick we supposed to play Half Life Alyx then????

  • Julia Crowl

    Interesting article and news. I really didn’t find the news about whether the Oculus is being recycled. I try to buy new things if they can be recycled here, but I can’t figure it out with these glasses yet.