Oculus Kills App That Let Vive Owners Play Rift Exclusives

[Megalith]

A recently released update prevents exclusives from running on non-Oculus hardware. Previously, a "compatibility layer," Revive, allowed the HTC Vive to run Oculus software.

Those who purchased software via the Oculus store who now own software they can no longer use are frustrated. Many comments in the Reddit thread on the subject point out how taking steps to ensure Oculus games don’t run on non-Oculus software flies in the face of a statement Oculus founder Palmer Luckey made back in December: “If customers buy a game from us, I don’t care if they mod it to run on whatever they want.”

 

[Axehandler]

I hope Oculus resolves/Fixes this soon. Otherwise, why would I go oculus? VR is just starting, forcing a hardware war is STUPID at this point.

 

[westrock2000]

Yay, I remember those days!

(still own the disc cause of the CD audio soundtrack)

 

[Litfod]

As if they haven't ballsed up the launch of the Rift enough with the hardware delays and inexplicable lack of the touch controllers, they seem intent on turning consumers off with shitty (lack of) privacy terms and now this u-turn on hardware locking.

I've been weighing whether or not to cancel my outstanding Rift order, and Luckey seems hell-bent on convincing me I should.

 

[Gorankar]

This sort of behavior can only slow adoption and breed discontent. Facebook's bullshit here only benefits Valve and HTC as long as they do not follow Facebook's lead on this.
While I stopped considering a Rift the moment Facebook bought them, this only reinforces my decision.

It is not as if the Rift is so much of a better all around choice at this point that they can wall out a potential competitor with exclusive games. In most ways the Vive is as good or better than the rift. I don't see where they can win customers this way. Their apps are not so compelling it precludes considering the Vive, and it's not like HTC and Valve will run out of money to push their tech either.

 

[Spidey329]

I hope Oculus resolves/Fixes this soon. Otherwise, why would I go oculus? VR is just starting, forcing a hardware war is STUPID at this point.

Exactly. You don't do exclusives this early in the game. I understand Oculus is probably paying for the exclusivity, but there's other ways to go about enticing people to use your product.

 

[Axiomatic]

Hey thats cool! I worked on that game. I miss the FASA team.

 

[RanceJustice]

Gorenkar has the right of it; This is exactly the garbage I expect from Facebook / Oculus , adding to list of previous violations such as removing focus/support for Linux/Mac, having a driver/utility program that sends back a huge more-than-technically-viable amount of data under a permissive TOS, enabling Facebook to dig up even more on Oculus users, and more. When they launched the Oculus Store I worried they'd be pulling this kind of garbage and so, here we are!

Oculus should know judging by the history of "VR and motion controls" we have since gaming's inception, that if VR - forget any individual company, but consumer VR - is going to be successful, they need every single possible member to join the installed base. VR cannot afford fragmentation; can't afford "X headset doesnt' work with Y game". Every time that happens, especially with the price of VR hardware and the rate it will likely progress requiring ugrades, someone says "You know what? Its not worth my time and money". The fact that Oculus saw this and was so arrogant or stupid that they thought "Gee, you know what we need? Exclusives! And a curated marketplace we control!" is mind-boggling. Compare this to Valve and SteamVR / OpenVR that focused on allowing games to be supported by muliple headsets if they integrated an open source library, or things like OSVR which equally plays in from the hardware and development end. Now, someone came along with a utility that would allow Vive or other headset owners the ability to buy into stuff - meaning more sales - from Oculus' walled garden, and they shut it down! The worst thing is the fact "Revive" was necessary at all - it wasn't adding a compatibility layer to add features or whatnot.. it simply intercepted DRM that the "exclusive" games included to ensure they could ONLY run on an Oculus Rift.

Absolutely repugnant. I can only hope they fail, but with Facebook's pit of ill-gotten gains funding them, we'll have to put up with this crap for a long, long time.

 

[Krab]

People have been slobbering over the Rift for years but it seems like the Vive really stole OR's thunder.

 

[JohnC0817]

IMHO, companies have every right to do what Oculus did; we just don't have to like it of course but you guys are absolutely right that if both companies want VR to become more mainstream, having options and being able to use both systems would be a great foundation to build on what is to come.

 

[Gorankar]

IMHO, companies have every right to do what Oculus did; we just don't have to like it of course but you guys are absolutely right that if both companies want VR to become more mainstream, having options and being able to use both systems would be a great foundation to build on what is to come.

True, they have every right to do this, and we have every right to hold them to the fire over it. They are not the only game in town, and it is easily argued that are not even the best horse in this race.

 

[AaronGant]

This feels dirty to me, like if there was Nvidia or AMD exclusive titles. Man the shitstorm if there were games that only played on a Radeon or a specific brand of monitor.

 

[Gorankar]

This feels dirty to me, like if there was Nvidia or AMD exclusive titles. Man the shitstorm if there were games that only played on a Radeon or a specific brand of monitor.

There is enough of a shit storm over TWIMTBP titles. I don't even want to fathom what would happen in the video card section should that change to TOWIGTBP, with the "O" standing for "only", and the "G" for "going".

Could you imaging if Logitech entered into a deal where only their racing wheels could be used with iRacing, or if HP entered into a deal where the next CoD could only be played on one of their monitors? Perfectly within their rights to do it, but it would be a shady, self defeating, marketing nightmare for them if they did. We need to make sure it is the same for Facebook.

 

[lilbabycat]

The facebook acquisition benefits development once again!

 

[Exavior]

People are looking at this from the wrong direction. Don't look at this like what if you could only use X keyboard or monitor. Look at it such was what if Sony paid for a game to be a Playstation exclusive and then it was released or make playable on the Xbox or vise versa. Vive, Oculus.. These are not a gaming added on for your PC. These are gaming platforms of their own.

So I can understand why if a game is created as a Oculus exclusive or a Vive exclusive they are not going to want you to play the game on the other. And honestly the developer doesn't either, otherwise they would have made the game for the other. Just like when a game is made Only for Xbox One the developer is saying they don't want Playstation owners to play it, otherwise it would be cross platform. Like said by others, you don't have to like it. But it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. If you pay for an exclusive you want it to be exclusive. If somebody makes an exclusive, you would want to keep it one to make people come to your platform. You don't want people making a Xbox One emulator for their PS4

 

[Revdarian]

Release Version 0.5.2 · LibreVR/Revive · GitHub

On PC nothing really stays dead for long. It has already been broken for Unreal Engine games again.

 

[Gorankar]

People are looking at this from the wrong direction. Don't look at this like what if you could only use X keyboard or monitor. Look at it such was what if Sony paid for a game to be a Playstation exclusive and then it was released or make playable on the Xbox or vise versa. Vive, Oculus.. These are not a gaming added on for your PC. These are gaming platforms of their own.

So I can understand why if a game is created as a Oculus exclusive or a Vive exclusive they are not going to want you to play the game on the other. And honestly the developer doesn't either, otherwise they would have made the game for the other. Just like when a game is made Only for Xbox One the developer is saying they don't want Playstation owners to play it, otherwise it would be cross platform. Like said by others, you don't have to like it. But it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. If you pay for an exclusive you want it to be exclusive. If somebody makes an exclusive, you would want to keep it one to make people come to your platform. You don't want people making a Xbox One emulator for their PS4

Except, the Rift and Vive are peripherals, not platforms. The PC is the platform. These are fancy add on devices for the PC platform. Much like my G27, Xbox controller, my Thrustmaster HOTAS setup, or my discrete graphics card. Very expensive peripherals, but still just peripherals.

 

[Axehandler]

People are looking at this from the wrong direction. Don't look at this like what if you could only use X keyboard or monitor. Look at it such was what if Sony paid for a game to be a Playstation exclusive and then it was released or make playable on the Xbox or vise versa. Vive, Oculus.. These are not a gaming added on for your PC. These are gaming platforms of their own.

So I can understand why if a game is created as a Oculus exclusive or a Vive exclusive they are not going to want you to play the game on the other. And honestly the developer doesn't either, otherwise they would have made the game for the other. Just like when a game is made Only for Xbox One the developer is saying they don't want Playstation owners to play it, otherwise it would be cross platform. Like said by others, you don't have to like it. But it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. If you pay for an exclusive you want it to be exclusive. If somebody makes an exclusive, you would want to keep it one to make people come to your platform. You don't want people making a Xbox One emulator for their PS4

I could Agree with you if this was a complete stand-alone system (Xbox - PlayStation - Nintendo).
But like Gorankar said.. this is basically like buying a monitor.

This would be the same of ASUS creating a game and hardware checking that it is ONLY their monitor attached to the system else you cannot play the game.
I still PAID for the game, and The game worked when I bought it, AND we were told it WOULD be compatible with My ACER.
So Why would Oculus block it other then to be a ICK... with a Capital D?

 

[Exavior]

Except, the Rift and Vive are peripherals, not platforms. The PC is the platform. These are fancy add on devices for the PC platform. Much like my G27, Xbox controller, my Thrustmaster HOTAS setup, or my discrete graphics card. Very expensive peripherals, but still just peripherals.

I could Agree with you if this was a complete stand-alone system (Xbox - PlayStation - Nintendo).
But like Gorankar said.. this is basically like buying a monitor.

This would be the same of ASUS creating a game and hardware checking that it is ONLY their monitor attached to the system else you cannot play the game.
I still PAID for the game, and The game worked when I bought it, AND we were told it WOULD be compatible with My ACER.
So Why would Oculus block it other then to be a ICK... with a Capital D?

Yes and no. They are platforms that use your PC as a processing unit. That is where the issue is coming from. People aren't viewing them as platforms but only want to look at them as another peripheral which isn't entirely true when they are used to their full potential. They control the entire gaming experience and aren't just an extra used for a minor part. Without either system you can't play the games at all. That is a little different than say a keyboard or game controller. Lets ignore the extreme ends of the spectrum for a moment. For the most part outside of something like 4K a monitor is a monitor. I can play any game on any monitor. There is nothing special for a game that states you have to have an Acer <insert model> otherwise the game won't work because one monitor is going to do the exact same thing as the other. The same can't be said for VR headsets. So there is a vast difference between a monitor and a VR headset. Both track movement differently, both have different control types. Yes some games can easily be mapped between the two, but some are going to only work correctly if you have the actual platform they were created for with the correct parts being used. There is a game (would have to look up the name) where you are shooting space ships flying at you, one hand controls a gun and the other you can swap between a shield and a gun. Game is on the Vive and uses their special controller in each hand. you are able to block things to the side of you or behind you by moving the shield, you can aim your gun around your shield... everything you can do in real life you can do in this game. But only because you are being tracked correctly from all sides and have the correct controllers. On the Oculus you wouldn't be able to play this game correctly as you have a xbox controller not two motion controllers. The two system really do work in different ways so a game created for one, might not work or work correctly on the other as they used the SDK for 1 system and could be designing the games very much different for each system as they work in different ways.

As for ASUS doing a hardware check. that wouldn't really be that new. I have bought hardware before that came with OEM software and that software refused to run as soon as I changed out that hardware for something else. Try to use Western Digital's version of disk cloner from their site with a Toshiba and Seagate hard drive and no WD drives and let me know if that works. Yes it does suck that these people had their software stop working. In all honesty they should have done this from the beginning or not at all. UNLESS this is the result of people bitching that I bought this Oculus game to run on my Vive and it doesn't work correctly and want support for games that don't work correctly, then it would make sense to add it in later. But in all honestly that isn't what it is. It comes down to money. They paid people to make a game exclusive to the Oculus, and people are getting around that exclusive part and playing the games on the Vive also so they have put a stop to it. So it would be closer to my example of WD disk clone software where WD paid for their own version of the software and give that to you, if you aren't using their hardware they don't want you using the software they paid for as they don't want to help out their rivals by giving you software to make them look better. Same here. Oculus spent money ($10 million) on paying people to make exclusive games, if people buy the games but then don't buy the Oculus that doesn't help them as much so they wanted to put a stop to that and make back their money by getting people to buy their hardware. That said I am pretty sure like Valve, Oculus probably get a piece of every sell so it still probably gets them money and they should be happy. But I guess they don't want to be happy with their exclusives not being exclusives.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it isn't shitty to allow things to work then say fuck you we are going to change this. I am just saying that I can understand why they would want to lock Oculus exclusive games that they funded to be made from working on the Vive. Just as I can understand why if one company paid for an exclusive for their console for a year and suddenly a week after release it was already out on the other, they would be mad. As when you pay for an exclusive title you expect just that, it be exclusive to your platform.

 

[AaronGant]

I've long accepted that Windows / Mac / Linux / each Console software wont run cross platform, it makes sense. I also understand how saying some games might need the right peripheral to play correctly. I still think that since it's a PC game and if I have the peripherals to play it on it shouldn't matter the brand. It still feels like a peripheral maker trying hard to force a gaming "platform" when there isn't really one.

There is nothing special for a game that states you have to have an Acer <insert model> otherwise the game won't work because one monitor is going to do the exact same thing as the other. The same can't be said for VR headsets. So there is a vast difference between a monitor and a VR headset. Both track movement differently, both have different control types. Yes some games can easily be mapped between the two, but some are going to only work correctly if you have the actual platform they were created for with the correct parts being used.

Doesn't that fact that some games can have been played on both show that in some cases they're just being used as an input and a monitor. Yeah, there are some games that need the special controller, but that's like saying a flight sim needs a flight stick, and I still get my choice of which brand of stick to buy.

I have bought hardware before that came with OEM software and that software refused to run as soon as I changed out that hardware for something else. Try to use Western Digital's version of disk cloner from their site with a Toshiba and Seagate hard drive and no WD drives and let me know if that works.

I think all the brands of hard drives have done that, but you could also just go and purchase a full version of that software and use it on any of them if you wanted. I still thought it was shitty that WD did that, I bought their damn drive I should be able to use it whether or not I kept their drive. Even then, I didn't pay for the software WD provided.

 

[rinaldo00]

There is a game (would have to look up the name) where you are shooting space ships flying at you, one hand controls a gun and the other you can swap between a shield and a gun. Game is on the Vive and uses their special controller in each hand. you are able to block things to the side of you or behind you by moving the shield, you can aim your gun around your shield... everything you can do in real life you can do in this game. But only because you are being tracked correctly from all sides and have the correct controllers. On the Oculus you wouldn't be able to play this game correctly as you have a xbox controller not two motion controllers. The two system really do work in different ways so a game created for one, might not work or work correctly on the other as they used the SDK for 1 system and could be designing the games very much different for each system as they work in different ways.

That would be fine for the games that have special features created for a specific system. Just as the consoles have a few exclusives there are plenty of games that run on the Xbox One/PS4/PC. This move sounds like ALL the games will be Rift exclusives and that is unfortunate and unnecessary.

 

[M76]

Thank goodness I'm not on that bandwagon. It will take a few years for things to normalize and get rid of hardware exclusives. As was the case in the 3d accelerator market in the beginning.

 

[Gorankar]

Yes and no. They are platforms that use your PC as a processing unit. That is where the issue is coming from. People aren't viewing them as platforms but only want to look at them as another peripheral which isn't entirely true when they are used to their full potential. They control the entire gaming experience and aren't just an extra used for a minor part. Without either system you can't play the games at all. That is a little different than say a keyboard or game controller. Lets ignore the extreme ends of the spectrum for a moment. For the most part outside of something like 4K a monitor is a monitor. I can play any game on any monitor. There is nothing special for a game that states you have to have an Acer <insert model> otherwise the game won't work because one monitor is going to do the exact same thing as the other. The same can't be said for VR headsets. So there is a vast difference between a monitor and a VR headset. Both track movement differently, both have different control types. Yes some games can easily be mapped between the two, but some are going to only work correctly if you have the actual platform they were created for with the correct parts being used. There is a game (would have to look up the name) where you are shooting space ships flying at you, one hand controls a gun and the other you can swap between a shield and a gun. Game is on the Vive and uses their special controller in each hand. you are able to block things to the side of you or behind you by moving the shield, you can aim your gun around your shield... everything you can do in real life you can do in this game. But only because you are being tracked correctly from all sides and have the correct controllers. On the Oculus you wouldn't be able to play this game correctly as you have a xbox controller not two motion controllers. The two system really do work in different ways so a game created for one, might not work or work correctly on the other as they used the SDK for 1 system and could be designing the games very much different for each system as they work in different ways.

As for ASUS doing a hardware check. that wouldn't really be that new. I have bought hardware before that came with OEM software and that software refused to run as soon as I changed out that hardware for something else. Try to use Western Digital's version of disk cloner from their site with a Toshiba and Seagate hard drive and no WD drives and let me know if that works. Yes it does suck that these people had their software stop working. In all honesty they should have done this from the beginning or not at all. UNLESS this is the result of people bitching that I bought this Oculus game to run on my Vive and it doesn't work correctly and want support for games that don't work correctly, then it would make sense to add it in later. But in all honestly that isn't what it is. It comes down to money. They paid people to make a game exclusive to the Oculus, and people are getting around that exclusive part and playing the games on the Vive also so they have put a stop to it. So it would be closer to my example of WD disk clone software where WD paid for their own version of the software and give that to you, if you aren't using their hardware they don't want you using the software they paid for as they don't want to help out their rivals by giving you software to make them look better. Same here. Oculus spent money ($10 million) on paying people to make exclusive games, if people buy the games but then don't buy the Oculus that doesn't help them as much so they wanted to put a stop to that and make back their money by getting people to buy their hardware. That said I am pretty sure like Valve, Oculus probably get a piece of every sell so it still probably gets them money and they should be happy. But I guess they don't want to be happy with their exclusives not being exclusives.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it isn't shitty to allow things to work then say fuck you we are going to change this. I am just saying that I can understand why they would want to lock Oculus exclusive games that they funded to be made from working on the Vive. Just as I can understand why if one company paid for an exclusive for their console for a year and suddenly a week after release it was already out on the other, they would be mad. As when you pay for an exclusive title you expect just that, it be exclusive to your platform.

They are still just peripherals regardless of if they are used to their fullest extent or not. They are input devices, display, and audio output devices. That is what they are. A game that uses a feature that one peripheral lacks making use of the device lacking that feature difficult, is not the same as locking a game out because "damn it we want to be the only game in town". Sure it is well within their rights, I just don't think it will benefit them, or help the uptake of VR. Facebook has enough of an image problem with the people most likely to buy this stuff, (not your average Sally and Joe Facebook users), so why make it worse?
Your idea that it is a platform like PC or PS4 is just odd to me. I don't believe I can accept peripherals like a monitor, head tracker, controller(s), and headphones as a platform when I have to supply the $1500+ PC platform to use it. I can use a PC without the Rift, I can not use the Rift without the PC. This really is no different than locking a game to a video card.

 

[windianrecords]

Not only did they patch the Unreal games, but the whole thing's been reopened again, this time worse for Facebox ...

(Can't get to Kotaku from my work browser but its one of the newer stories)

 

[Armenius]

They are still just peripherals regardless of if they are used to their fullest extent or not. They are input devices, display, and audio output devices. That is what they are. A game that uses a feature that one peripheral lacks making use of the device lacking that feature difficult, is not the same as locking a game out because "damn it we want to be the only game in town". Sure it is well within their rights, I just don't think it will benefit them, or help the uptake of VR. Facebook has enough of an image problem with the people most likely to buy this stuff, (not your average Sally and Joe Facebook users), so why make it worse?
Your idea that it is a platform like PC or PS4 is just odd to me. I don't believe I can accept peripherals like a monitor, head tracker, controller(s), and headphones as a platform when I have to supply the $1500+ PC platform to use it. I can use a PC without the Rift, I can not use the Rift without the PC. This really is no different than locking a game to a video card.

This, right here. Whatever you believe the free market is going to settle the situation, either way. Unfortunately for Oculus the early success of the new wave of VR will rest on the enthusiast market, and the enthusiasts are not going to stand for this type of closed ecosystem.

 

[Deleted member 93354]

This is a sticky thicket, and a very fine line between what NVIDIA did with PhysX and ATI creating a compatibility layer,

BUT if Occulus PAID money to make this an exclusive and HTC is trying to get around the fact without offering compensation, then Occulus has a right to shut them out.

I consider this different from the NVIDIA's PhysX API which fractures large sections of the gaming community as a whole (An API is not an exclusive title). It's one of the reasons to this day I refuse to buy nvidia's stuff. It's down right swarmy to create a standards war which locks your competitors out.

 

[Revdarian]

HTC isn't doing jack, this is reverse engineering by VR fans and geeks.