Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Valve adds OSVR headset support to Steam

By - | Views: 12,853
If you want to play games in VR on Steam, the list of compatible headsets just got bigger. OSVR is now a supported option.

What is OSVR?
OSVR is a movement founded to create a universal open source VR ecosystem for technologies across different brands and companies. Giving you the freedom to combine different brands of HMDs and Controllers to experience VR the way they want to.
Technology

Powering OSVR is an SDK that is designed to allow developers to support all the hardware available in the ecosystem at a single go. Addressing the challenges the industry is facing such as hardware fragmentation, allowing them to focus more on delivering high quality immersive experiences.

See the Steam announcement here. You can check what games support OSVR here.

31 titles that support OSVR on Steam right now also support Linux, so that's nice.

Hopefully we will see more headsets come along that support Linux, the more competition VR gets the better variety of products we will see and hopefully lower prices. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
3 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
14 comments
Page: «2/2
  Go to:

Ardje Nov 30, 2016
Quote31 titles that support OSVR on Steam right now also support Linux, so that's nice.
My experience is that VR and steamos are mutually exclusive. There were a very select view I could start on my DK2.
All others had no VR build for steamos even though it was my primary reason to buy it.
haagch Nov 30, 2016
Quote31 titles that support OSVR on Steam right now also support Linux, so that's nice.
It's not. As far as I know. 0 of those actually have OSVR support *on* Linux. They just have OSVR support on Windows and then they also have a Linux version without OSVR support.

The two main reasons are:
OSVR's unity plugin doesn't work on linux: https://github.com/OSVR/OSVR-Unity-Rendering/issues/5
OSVR's unreal plugin doesn't work on linux: https://github.com/OSVR/OSVR-Unreal/pull/123

The thing is that nobody is *really* trying to make OSVR applications work on Linux.
You would assume that Mozilla would care for WebVR with OSVR on Linux, right? Wrong: https://github.com/OSVR/OSVR-Docs/issues/83
richip Nov 30, 2016
I'm confused. So can I now run ANY VR apps on my SteamOS-based machine? I don't care if I have to buy additional hardware. I just want to know which H/w I should get and which software to acquire.
InverseTelecine Dec 1, 2016
Quoting: slaapliedjeI initially got a GearVR for my Note 4. It was pretty cool, but I didn't even have much luck with any streaming from the computer to it. Netflix and the 360 video stuff is neat, but you are right, 'Mobile' gaming is crap, VR or not... give me back hardware buttons on a phone and gaming might be better...

Yeah, mobile gaming seems like such a terminally infested (with microtransactions) arena that even when I find a game that looks good all I ever think is "ugh, I wonder how they ruin this one."

Quoting: slaapliedjeDread halls is pretty awesome, but the fact that Oculus Activities and Facebook Messenger somehow cheat and auto-update on my phone even though I tell the play store to ot auto update..

Anyhow, before phone / tablet to PC streaming becomes actually usable, we would probably want better wifi and more Vulkan support so it isn't yack city.

I'm not convinced Vulkan would be a requirement, even for medium range systems. The resolution that the games need to put out for the little areas of the mobile device's screen is pretty low, and the frame rate required isn't nearly what it is for Vive. It really shouldn't be too hard even without optimal performance.

Quoting: slaapliedjeThat and the difference between head tracking with goggles vs 'true' VR where you can interact with things... you just aren't going to get that from the cheaper things for years to come. Even the PS4 VR doesn't do that all that well.

Wait, stop. Let's take a step back here. VR is still way too new a technology to start talking about what is "real" or "true" already. Mobile device based VR is still plenty impressive even if it's not on the same technical level as Vive. We can always ruin any experience for ourselves by thinking about how there is a "better" experience out there somewhere. That is a pointless way of thinking that will keep us from enjoying what we have, even when we have plenty to enjoy!
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.