Play Steam PC VR games on Apple Vision Pro using this brilliant free app

When the Apple Vision Pro launched there were two things I didn’t like: its cost and its inability to play existing VR games. Apple Arcade has been adding a few games for the Vision Pro but it just doesn’t feel the same as something like Half-Life: Alyx. Enter ALVR, the app that lets you play Steam PC VR games on Apple’s headset.ALVR works by allowing Vision Pro users to stream VR games from their PC to their headset. All you have to do is have your Vision Pro connected to the same network as your PC. Oh and, obviously, you’ll need a PC that is capable of running VR games.

But Apple Vision Pro doesn’t have any dedicated controllers, relying solely on hand and eye tracking. How does ALVR counter that? By bringing support for external dual controllers to the Vision Pro.

There’s also support for room-scale lighthouse tracking that some VR headsets support. Like the Pimax Crystal, HTC Vive and Valve Index. Lastly, hand tracking can also be used, though I doubt it’ll help much for serious gaming sessions.

All this trouble just because Apple wanted to be different. Tsk tsk.

The developer recommends some steps to ensure optimal performance. For example, using a good 5 GHz router with minimal traffic on it and disabling AirDrop and Handoff. Your PC being connected to the router via ethernet will also help.

Apple has marketed its headset as a machine for productivity and passive media consumption. Our Apple Vision Pro review concluded that it excelled at those use cases. However, the lack of support for VR and PC VR games really hurts the headset, in my opinion. It is by far the biggest reason to get a VR device at the moment.

ALVR sounds fascinating, but it is just a workaround in the end. I can only hope Apple adds support for gaming in their next headset. That, and a cheaper price tag, should entice many more people to give the Vision headsets a shot.

ALVR can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store here.

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