Exploring UEVR: A Tool to Transform Traditional Games Into Virtual Reality Experiences

Key Takeaways

• UEVR is an open-source tool that converts Unreal Engine games into VR games with ease, without developers needing to put in much effort.
• Using UEVR is simple: just launch UEVR, start the game, and inject VR capabilities with a few clicks.
• Around 700 games have been tested with UEVR so far, and more titles are expected to receive plugins and mods for a better VR experience.

Converting regular flat video games into VR is usually something that takes developers a significant amount of time and money, but the UEVR mod promises to instantly convert thousands of games to VR without any effort from the developers themselves.

What Is UEVR?

UEVR is an open-source tool that turns Unreal Engine games into VR games with full 6DoF (six degrees of freedom) and baked-in VR concessions such as firearm free aiming or melee, as well as interactivity with the environment.

As you might have guessed from the name, the “UE” in UEVR is short for “Unreal Engine.” Unreal is one of the most popular video game engines, and an enormous number of games are created using it. Games built using Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5 can be converted to VR using this mod, because those engines have built-in features to help developers create VR versions of their games.

What sets UEVR apart is how user-friendly it is. It has a graphical interface, which means you don’t have to deal with any nerdy command line stuff. Just click a few buttons and you’ll be immersed in your favorite UE game in no time.

How to Use UEVR

After downloading and installing UEVR , getting started with UEVR is surprisingly straightforward. The process involves launching the UEVR application, starting the game you wish to convert, and then using the tool to “inject” VR capabilities into the game. This injection process is the magic behind UEVR, transforming traditional games into VR-ready adventures with just a few clicks.

If that was all it did, it would be impressive enough, but the mod has a huge number of options to customize the experience. There are numerous interface and performance tweaks to help you get a specific game to work as well as possible. UEVR, while itself a mod, lets others create mods for specific games that work with UEVR. For example, if a given game doesn’t work with motion controls, you can often get a plugin for UEVR that adds this feature to that particular game.

If you already have a VR-ready Windows PC and a PC VR headset , then there’s no harm in trying UEVR out, but as of this writing these headsets are listed as working with UEVR:

• Oculus Rift CV1
• Oculus Rift S
• Oculus/Meta Quest 2
• Meta Quest 3
• Meta Quest Pro
• Valve Index
• HTC Vive
• HTC Vive Pro
• Bigscreen Beyond
• Pimax headsets like the 8KX and Crystal
• WMR headsets like the HP Reverb G2

More headsets besides these are likely to work, assuming that they work with existing Unreal Engine 4 or Unreal Engine 5 VR games. Since each game may need very specific tweaks or plugins, it’s a good idea to do web search for the specific games you want to play with the UEVR mod. For the basics, check out this excellent getting started video found in the official UEVR documentation.

Which Games Work With UEVR?

As of this writing, around 700 games (of approximately 11,000 UE 4 and 5 titles) have been tested with the UEVR mod. Noteworthy titles include “Atomic Heart,” “Robocop Rogue City ,” and “Little Nightmares.” There is an official compatibility spreadsheet that lists games that have been tested, and how well they work. The level of success with each game varies, but I expect over time, with the help of the PCVR community, the most popular games will get plugins and mods to polish up their VR experience.

Perhaps most importantly, I hope developers take note of how (relatively) easily UEVR makes it to at least get a workable VR version of a game going, and that, thanks to mods like these, we’ll see many more Unreal Engine games get the VR treatment they deserve.