Oculus Rift app update ends unofficial HTC Vive support – update

Update 1.4 to the Oculus Rift software removes the ability to use the Revive software to play Rift-exclusive games with the HTC Vive. This while Oculus CEO Palmer Luckey recently stated that such measures would not be taken.

The change was noted by Motherboard, which was also in contact with Revive developer Libre VR. Starting with the update, the DRM of the Oculus software checks whether a Rift headset is actually connected when an application from the Oculus platform is opened. “The tightening of the DRM does not therefore seem to have been implemented with a view to combating illegal copies of Oculus applications, but specifically to guarantee the hardware exclusivity of those apps,” said Libre VR.

While Oculus’ move does not go against the expectations of such a company, it does go against previous statements by Oculus CEO Palmer Luckey. In a conversation on Reddit on December 8, 2015, he said that “it doesn’t matter what users play a Rift game on. Our goal is not to increase profits by limiting compatible hardware to just our own.’

Revive was in the news in April because of the possibility to run certain Oculus applications on an HTC Vive. Oculus did inform Ars Technica at the time that the company saw this as a hack and that they did not approve. At the time, the company warned that future updates might hinder or completely disable unofficial support. However, this does not seem to concern the collateral damage of an update, but a targeted measure against software such as Revive.

Update, 19:39: It looks like the developers of Revive have immediately published an update to the software that beats the new drm.