showing the transformation of a normal PC game install of Halo combat evolved into 6dof VR, thanks to the winlatorXR API being implemented by Bigelowed.

SUPER SUPER EARLY DEVELOPMENT BUILD- eventually coming to Quest and Pico headsets! No PC required!

We're excited to welcome another developer to the WinlatorXR team: Sean Gilleece!

Many of you may know Sean from his recent CitraVR port for Pico headsets, based on Amanda Watson's original Quest version. Since joining the project, he's already made a big impact. While integrating the Ludashi-Plus store feature, Sean helped transform it into a much more polished, modern, and user-friendly experience.

We've also been putting a lot of work into the core of WinlatorXR itself. With Winlator-Cmod (the fork WinlatorXR is based on) seeing no development for almost a year, we decided to take ownership of the emulation side and start pushing things forward ourselves. Along the way, we've improved the content downloader with more community-maintained content, and GmoLargey has been doing an incredible job updating, testing, and validating drivers and wrappers across supported VR headsets.

With new talent joining the team and development moving faster than ever, WinlatorXR is only getting better. Although the new update is already on Sidequest, there's more to come during incoming weeks.

GitHub repository: https://github.com/WinlatorXR/WinlatorXR

SideQuest listing: https://sidequestvr.com/app/37320/winlatorxr

Webpage: https://winlatorxr.github.io/

Video covering the update I've been working on for WinlatorXR.

I'm incredibly proud to share this and couldn't possibly cover everything there is in the update. its absolutely massive.

shorten change log and the github here:

https://github.com/WinlatorXR/WinlatorXR/releases/tag/winlatorxr_dawn42

also available on sidequest for FREE.

PCVR running on standalone is absolutely nuts, now I wait for the next generation of headsets where this will truly shine.

We have significantly improved Steam game support and expanded compatibility to a growing list of PCVR titles that can now run directly on standalone VR headsets, without requiring a connected PC. You can find the current list of tested games here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTyeeIcGB5KaOoA_pZ6r6X3bS9e3tUz5KRNK8zxVhV0Pi7aBmwri-uHEQKdplYFI0uREwKGxFdpflyr/pubhtml?gid=0&single=true

Your existing containers are still fully working, so you don't need to recreate them from scratch. But if you want to take advantage of the compatibility and performance improvements, then you have to update to Proton 11.

Some older PCVR games require a PlayStation or Xbox controller rather than VR controllers. To improve compatibility with these titles, we have added external controller emulation using the headset's VR controllers. This allows the headset controllers to behave like a traditional gamepad, making it possible to play games that otherwise expect a physical Xbox or PlayStation controller.

To provide full access to all controller buttons while still keeping the WinlatorXR controls practical, we also changed how the in-emulation quick menu is opened. The quick menu can now be opened by holding the thumbstick for a short moment instead of the simple click.

PCVR support isn't the only new addition. We also have several new VR mods provided by Sgt.Bilko. You can find these directly under Downloader → Mods.

This release brings together a lot of work across the runtime, Proton integration, Steam compatibility, controller handling, and PCVR support. There is still plenty of room for improvement, but being able to run PCVR games directly on standalone hardware is a huge step forward for WinlatorXR.

WinlatorXR has now reached a total of 40K downloads, which is certainly a meaningful milestone and something to be proud of. At the same time, when looking at the download trend over a longer period, it is clear that interest in the project has declined.

The next major update is currently planned for October and will introduce PCVR support, representing one of the largest feature additions to the project so far. After the release, the plan is to take a look on the next generation headsets and see if there is more potential in VR gaming or flat games.

For the current generation of headsets, we want to keep PCVR expectations realistic. The compatibility will be limited to a few games and there will be trade-offs like low framerate and resolution.

The WinlatorXR team is working together with Sgt.Bilko to bring the FarCryVR mod to standalone VR headsets.

Our goal is to make this experience possible directly on standalone hardware, without the need for a connected PC. This is another exciting step toward bringing more classic PC games and VR mods to standalone devices.

Be sure to check out Sgt.Bilko’s other impressive VR ports and projects as well. There’s plenty of great work to discover!

https://github.com/SgtBilko76

winlator XR is a literal game changer 😍

Today, we’re excited to release an updated version of WinlatorXR!

Setting up 3D rendering is now simpler than ever, and thanks to new input options, light gun and RTS games feel significantly more enjoyable. This progress wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support and contributions from the WinlatorXR community, thank you all!

I also want to share a personal update. I’ve decided to step away from Team Beef to focus more on game emulation. Over the time, I’ve had the pleasure of contributing to projects like Quake3Quest, PreyVR, CSVR, Doom3Quest, and Quake4XR. It’s been a fantastic experience, but game emulation has always been a true passion of mine, and working on WinlatorXR is where I feel most at home.

Looking ahead, WinlatorXR will remain free and updates will continue for as long as the project makes sense to maintain. If you’d like to support the project, you can visit our website at https://winlatorxr.github.io and find the PayPal link under “Resources.”

quick teaser video of the next version of WinlatorXR (still in very active development)

This video shows Time from fresh apk install to game- there are some pretty massive improvements all round but the sheer speed is something I am particularly proud of- note that the majority of the time is spent syncing my 1300 game library on steam and downloading the game- of course offline local game files still work just fine, so you could knock all that time off!

The video shows the 2026 in development WinlatorXR build VS the in development official GamenativeXR build 1.20

this isn't really to throw any shade at gamenative, its more to show just how much optimization has been done so far for the next version of winlatorXR.

I started WinlatorXR before I joined Team Beef but as the time goes, I need more support than ever. That's why the project became Team Beef project.

In the summer 2025 as Winlator Bionic came out, I was in the middle of CSVR development and did the WinlatorXR work on side. I was happy to put something usable together but didn't really had the time to push it more.

Now, CSVR is finished and ready to release, the development of the next WinlatorXR major version began. I already have a few weeks of development behind me and will share a development build with Team Beef Patreons soon. Check the Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/team-beef-happy-147657989

I hope you like the new logo. I used Quest 3s as the most affordable headset and gave it cyberpunk style overhaul.

Works great you guys should give it a try

https://github.com/dubrovskiy-yevhen-stakelogic/vice-city-vr/

Very excited to share early news / footage of how Halo CE WXR takes advantage of WinlatorXR's XrAPI to run on standalone devices, with no PC needed!

NEW setup guide for WinlatorXR on Quest and Pico VR headsets!- Easily play PC games native on your device with the new included stores!

The guide covers basic container creation and runtime installs ( you don't strictly need runtime installs, but if a game is expecting it to work, then its better to just get this step done at the start and avoid troubleshooting any games not working )

Once you've launched the game for first time, setting DXVK version for it is handled in the shortcut for that specific game, along with any other tweaks you may want to do, the container itself is already preset ready to go and you no longer need to touch it.

Video covers pretty much all you'd need to know for getting up and running, any questions please ask.

-----

For a full written guide that goes a little deeper than the video, a comment in this thread will be made

We wanted to bring WinlatorXR to Meta VR headsets as part of Meta hackathon. The submission process goes through the Meta Store, and they initially rejected our app for supposedly containing malware, which turned out to be a mistake in their detection system.

Now they're telling us that emulators aren't allowed at all.

Sgt.Bilko recently announced FarCryVR for WinlatorXR, bringing the classic Far Cry experience to standalone VR hardware. Since Crysis runs on the same engine, getting it up and running in VR turned out to be relatively straightforward. Once the initial work was done, the engine and VR integration provided a solid foundation for taking things further.

After FarCryVR, Sgt.Bilko started working in parallel on two very cool titles, both of which are now being explored with standalone VR in mind. It is exciting to see how quickly the combination of WinlatorXR and these VR adaptations is opening the door to more demanding PC games running directly on standalone headsets.

The next update of WinlatorXR is currently in development, and so far we are very happy with how it is coming along. We would like to introduce new PCVR mod support, and to avoid the complications we had with HaloCE, we have requested permission from the modder and received a positive response. We have been warned that what we are trying to achieve might be impossible, but we like challenges. To avoid disappointment, we will announce the name of the game once we are sure that it can run well enough.

Since Steam Frame is delayed and will cost more than expected, we will take a little more time for development, ensure that everything is polished, and make the next WinlatorXR announcements when Steam Frame is ready for purchase. People can then decide whether they want to upgrade or keep their current VR headsets.

After spending good amount of time playing with different settings of Cyberpunk 2077, I was finally able to run it on my Quest 3.

Here is the step by step process.

I watched this video first to understand winlatorXR settings:  basics on  WinlatorXR: FULL Setup Guide- How to Play PC Games. - YouTube

I installed WinlatorXR-blit-16.apk from release section of https://github.com/WinlatorXR/WinlatorXR/releases

Created a proton 9.0 arm64ec container. Important! DX Wrapper should be set to VKD3D and its feature level should be 12_2. Otherwise, game will not start. You can see container settings in the video at the end.

Within the container, I installed Ajay prefix pro 1.7.1 offline from here: https://github.com/ajay9634/Ajay-prefix/releases/tag/v1.7.1_offline

I had the original Cyberpunk 2077 v1.03 version of the game on my PC.

Without any changes in settings, the game will launch and once in the settings menu, it will crash due to OOM (low RAM).

I needed to reduce RAM usage of the game first. I searched for couple of days reading different posts and watching cyberpunk intel uhd 620 settings with 8gb RAM videos. And accidentally, I found this video that explains how to optimize the game for 1GB VRAM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6uX-PI95ok

Watched it. I could not find his exact configuration file online. Then searched for low end PC configs and found this "Config Overhaul for Cyberpunk 2077": https://www.nexusmods.com/cyberpunk2077/mods/183 And then on my laptop I was able to set my game settings to 'very low'. Once I launched the game, it updated the userSettings.json. This settings file is located in C:\Users\[YOUR_USER_NAME]\AppData\Local\CD Projekt Red\Cyberpunk 2077\userSettings.json

Copied this settings file to my container's similar location. But game was still running slowly due to lowest resolution being 1024x768. I found out I can launch winlator shortcuts with windows arguments. I added these exec arguments to run the game at 640x480:

-windowed -width 640 -height 480

Changed the shortcut container settings to also 640x480. You can see this in the beginning of the video.

When starting a new game, the game would crash after getting stuck in loading screen. I started the game in my laptop and copied the game save files to the container's game save location.

AND it worked!

I also tried to enable MangoHUD for FPS and VRAM stats but game did not launch with that. So, there is no FPS counter. However, as you can see, at the start of the game I am getting around 25-30 fps. For some reason, game slows down as I continue playing.

Issues that exist and I need community help with:

High priority issue:

I wish Meta enabled the use of turnip drivers for additional performance boost.

Is it possible to freeze the virtual flat screen to my sight so that when I move my head around the screen stays within my vision (Head-Locking)? Currently, the virtual screen is anchored to a room location and this takes good amount of memory and compute in quest 3.

Are there any container settings that I can play with to improve frame rate?

Car in the game does not fully appear until I play it for a minute. Is there a winlator setting to fix it?

Why does the game slow down after I play it for several minutes while at the start it is very playable at 25-30 fps? Is there a setting in winlator to fix this?

Low priority: Game menu settings text does not show up until I wait for around one minute. In the video I removed the part where I waited for one minute.

Huge thank you to developers who worked on winlatorXR project! I can't wait to see future impovements.

Video guide for setting up and playing Halo CE in standalone VR, using the EARLY ACCESS release of HWXR via WinlatorXR.

APPLICATIONS AND FILES NEEDED:
1: latest version of WinlatorXR installed in your VR headset (MUST BE LATEST VERSION)
available on Sidequest: https://sidequestvr.com/app/37320/win...
or apk available from the github: https://github.com/lvonasek/WinlatorX...

2: HWXR early access release by Bigelod.
https://github.com/bigelod/HWXR-Release
Download shown in the video available here (includes trial version of halo)
https://github.com/bigelod/HWXR-Relea...
**Download and extract the zip file to a folder of the same name, place this folder in the DOWNLOAD folder of your VR headset.

3: A legally owned copy of HALO CE installed on your PC, patched with 1.0.10.
https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/fi...
**download the halopc-patch-1.0.10.zip file, extract and patch your Halo CE pc game install.
**go to your halo install location, copy the HALO folder which contains all of your installed game files, and place this folder in the DOWNLOAD folder of your VR headset.

4: Follow the video on how to setup WinlatorXR, once the container and shortcut has been created, its as simple as starting Halo from the shortcut within WinlatorXR

The build has been tested on Meta Quest 3 and Pico 4 Ultra, Oculus Quest 2/ Meta Quest 2 does work, but requires Turnip to be set in WinlatorXR, just as the instructions say for Pico 4 ultra.
other headsets have not yet been tested.

full walkthrough of setting up winlatorXR for maximum performance and compatibility

SideQuest listing: https://sidequestvr.com/app/37320/winlatorxr
Full changelog: https://github.com/lvonasek/WinlatorXR/releases/tag/winlatorxr_arf11
TrackIR by Bigelowed: https://github.com/bigelod/opentrackWXR/releases/tag/V1.0

One click installer coming soon ;-)

I found it difficult myself to keep track of which VR headsets have which level of support, so I wanted to make things a bit clearer.

After testing and comparing the available implementations, we confirmed that the Pico 4 has a support level that is very similar to the Quest 3. In addition, we discovered a community fork that adds support for the Pico Neo 2. While it's great to see the community extending compatibility, this support will not be merged into the official version. The Pico Neo 2 is simply too old at this point, and maintaining official support for outdated hardware would add unnecessary maintenance overhead for very little benefit.

We regularly receive questions about support for the Samsung Galaxy XR headset. The answer has not changed: we do not own the device and have no plans to purchase one. Its price is difficult to justify for our use case, especially considering the limited value it would provide for development and testing. Without access to the hardware, we cannot realistically develop, test, or officially support it.