Microsoft pulled the plug on assist for its complete WMR platform on Home windows 11 final 12 months, placing an official finish to the corporate’s foray into PC VR headsets. Now, an unofficial SteamVR driver hopes to convey it again.
Microsoft deprecated the Blended Actuality Portal app, Home windows Blended Actuality for SteamVR, and Steam VR Beta when Home windows 11 24H2 replace rolled out final October, making a fleet of PC VR headsets from Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Samsung basically costly paperweights.
Granted, should you haven’t up to date to Home windows 11 24H2, or are nonetheless on Home windows 10, Microsoft says you’ll be capable of play SteamVR content material by way of November 2026 earlier than the plug is pulled for good. Nonetheless, that’s a bitter capsule to swallow for customers of WMR’s most fashionable headset, HP Reverb G2, which launched lower than 5 years in the past.
Now, Reddit person ‘mbucchia’ claims an unofficial SteamVR driver is within the works, which goals to convey all WMR headsets again into the fold someday this Fall. Beneath you may see the primary HP Reverb (2019) in motion:
Dubbed the ‘Oasis’ driver, mbucchia says the SteamVR driver “doesn’t want the Blended Actuality Portal,” which was deprecated in Home windows 11 24H2 final 12 months alongside SteamVR beta assist.
“This implies it may possibly work on Home windows 11 24H2 and newer. It helps full 6DoF monitoring together with movement controllers,” mbucchia says.
“As talked about on one other publish, I don’t have all WMR headsets to check with. Although I can inform you that it [also] works on the unique Acer AH100. It ought to in concept work on any model/mannequin,” mbucchia says.
Work on the motive force is remaining behind closed doorways, mbucchia says, noting that Oasis might be restricted to Nvidia GPUs as a result of manner SteamVR interfaces with the GPU drivers.
Most attention-grabbing of all, although, is Oasis isn’t being undertaken by simply anybody. Mbucchia claims they’re at the moment an worker at Microsoft who has beforehand labored within the firm’s Blended Actuality division.
“I’m sure by NDAs and different obligations. I wish to be clear that I’ve taken a lot care to NOT BREACH any of those agreements whereas engaged on this challenge. Specifically, I’m leveraging SteamVR for lots of heavy lifting and I’m not borrowing any Microsoft mental property,” mbucchia says.
For these causes, Oasis received’t characteristic a beta, or comparable early entry, earlier than its launch in Fall 2025. It additionally received’t be open supply.
“A lot of the code is the results of deep reverse-engineer. Reverse-engineering that if shared, may very well be construed as exposing internals of packages like SteamVR or the Nvidia GPU drivers,” mbucchia explains. “Not[e] that right here once more, I’m NOT BREACHING any proprietary/mental property. Having respect for each Valve and Nvidia, I cannot reveal any of the code that they don’t contemplate public.”
Mbucchia says they’ll reveal extra in regards to the challenge within the Home windows Blended Actuality subreddit main as much as its Fall 2025 launch.
