Virtual Desktop’s latest update boosts PC VR performance but adds an Internet connection requirement.
Since just after the launch of the Oculus Quest in 2019, Guy Godin‘s Virtual Desktop app has enabled you to play PC VR games via streaming over your home Wi-Fi network (provided you have a gaming PC). Initially rejected by Meta, the feature had to be patched in via SideQuest, but the company eventually relented just before Air Link – its own in–built alternative – was launched.
The latest Virtual Desktop update brings “better parallelization of work on your computer GPU”. Godin claims you should see up to 20% improvement in PC VR games. The update also reduces micro-stutters in SteamVR, adds support for the PlayStation DualShock 4 controller, and fixes compatibility with X-Plane 11, Among Us VR, Vail, Ghosts of Tabor, and the Rift Store version of Synth Riders.
Controversially, however, the update adds an Internet connectivity requirement.
“This is unfortunate but piracy has become a real problem and this is the only way I can keep bringing you free updates for life. Hope you’ll understand”, Godin told his customers.
All actual traffic remains local, Godin says, and an Internet connection is only required when establishing a connection to your PC. The developer joined the comments of our VR Download discussion this week to discuss the change.
Virtual Desktop also came to Pico headsets for the launch of Pico 4. The new update is live on both Quest and Pico.