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Revive

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Revive
Information
Type Compatibility layer
Industry Virtual reality
Developer Jules Blok (CrossVR), published as LibreVR
Written In C++
Operating System Microsoft Windows
License MIT License
Supported Devices SteamVR (OpenVR) headsets such as the HTC Vive and Valve Index; Windows Mixed Reality headsets
Release Date April 2016 (first public version)
Website https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive


Revive (also written ReVive) is a free, open-source compatibility layer that lets games and apps from the Oculus Store run on PC VR headsets other than the Oculus Rift, such as the HTC Vive and Valve Index. The project's README describes it as "a compatibility layer between the Oculus SDK and OpenVR/OpenXR" that lets users "play Oculus-exclusive games on your HTC Vive or Valve Index".[1] It is developed by Jules Blok, who goes by CrossVR and publishes the project under the name LibreVR.[2][3] The code is released under the MIT License.[4]

Revive was released in April 2016 so that HTC Vive owners could play games bought on the Oculus Store.[3] In May 2016 an Oculus software update added a check for a connected Rift, which broke Revive; the developer released a workaround that bypassed the ownership check, and in June 2016 Oculus removed the hardware check and said it would not use hardware checks as part of DRM on PC in the future.[5][6] The latest release on GitHub is version 3.2.0, published on 20 March 2023.[7]

Reviewed 15 October 2026. Checked repository metadata, README, LICENSE, BUILDING.md, release notes, last commits and 2026 issues on GitHub, plus every cited UploadVR, Road to VR, TechCrunch, VICE, PCWorld and Developer-Tech article and the NewReleases copy of the 3.0.0 notes against the claims they support. About review dates.

History

Launch (April 2016)

The GitHub repository was created on 11 April 2016.[8] On 13 April 2016 UploadVR reported that a Reddit user called CrossVR, who asked to be referred to as LibreVR, had published Revive on GitHub as a "proof-of-concept compatibility layer between the Oculus SDK and OpenVR". It reimplemented functions of the Oculus runtime and translated them into OpenVR calls. Because Oculus had added a code-signing check to the runtime DLLs, each game had to be patched before it would load Revive's DLLs. At launch the two officially supported titles were Lucky's Tale and Oculus Dreamdeck, both free on Oculus Home, and each needed its own patch file.[3] PCWorld noted that running Oculus games this way still required installing the Oculus runtime, and repeated Ars Technica's report that the same patches worked with many other Unity and Unreal Engine games.[9]

Oculus responded in a statement: "This is a hack, and we don't condone it", adding that users "should expect that hacked games won't work indefinitely". LibreVR stated: "I will never support piracy in this project, you will always need to buy the games you want to play using the Revive project."[3]

DRM dispute (May to June 2016)

In May 2016 an Oculus Home update changed the platform's entitlement check so that it also verified that a Rift was connected, which stopped Revive from working. Oculus said the update "wasn't targeted at a specific hack" and that the security improvements were "designed to curb piracy and protect content and developers over the long term".[5][10] Road to VR described the change as the 1.4 update.[5]

Motherboard reported that the developer found a workaround in less than 24 hours. The original Revive translated Oculus runtime functions into OpenVR calls; the new version used the same injection technique to disable the Oculus Platform ownership check, so a game could no longer confirm that the user owned it. It initially worked only with Unreal Engine games. The developer wrote that this was "my first success at bypassing the DRM, I really didn't want to go down that path" and asked users not to use it for pirated copies.[11] Road to VR likewise reported that LibreVR restored functionality by patching the Oculus Platform component, and that the patch then worked only for Unreal Engine games while many Unity games needed a different patch.[5]

In June 2016 Oculus Runtime 1.5 removed the headset check. LibreVR noted the change in the patch notes for Revive 0.6.2, writing that "it looks like Oculus removed the headset check from the DRM in Oculus Runtime 1.5".[6] Oculus confirmed that "in the June update we've removed the check for Rift hardware from the entitlement check" and stated: "We won't use hardware checks as part of DRM on PC in the future."[12][6] The episode is also summarized in the Oculus SDK article.

Version 1.0 and Patreon funding (2016-2017)

Revive 1.0 was released on 5 December 2016. It updated the project to Oculus Runtime 1.10.0 and OpenVR 1.0.4, improved Oculus Touch support and added Touch haptics, added Oculus tutorial experiences to its dashboard, moved the injector and patcher into a tray icon, and added an automatic update checker.[13]

Revive is distributed free and was funded through a Patreon campaign.[14] In late June 2017 Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, who had left Facebook in March 2017, pledged US$2,000 per month to Blok's Patreon. Blok confirmed the donor to his backers, writing that "the sudden extreme jump in the pledge amount is indeed by Palmer Luckey".[15][16]

OpenXR working group (2017)

Blok had said he would join the Khronos Group's OpenXR initiative as an Associate Member, a non-voting tier that cost US$3,500, once Revive's Patreon donations reached US$2,000 per month. After he reached that goal, helped by Luckey's monthly pledge, Khronos waived the fee; Blok said the money would go to the Revive project instead.[2] Developer-Tech quoted him as saying: "Just like Revive, OpenXR is an attempt to unify the VR market."[17]

Windows Mixed Reality and Index support (2017-2019)

In November 2017 Road to VR reported a video from the German site VR Nerds showing Revive running the Touch demo First Contact on a Windows Mixed Reality headset through SteamVR. Blok said some games did not yet work because they expected a certain number of external sensors, which inside-out tracked Windows headsets lack, and that the next version would fix this. He added that "Revive can support any headset that has an OpenVR driver".[14]

Version 1.3.0 (April 2018) added a beta of "Remixed", a version of Revive rewritten for native Windows Mixed Reality support that launched games directly in the Mixed Reality Portal without SteamVR.[18] The 1.4.0 beta (May 2018) added early SteamVR Input support and Samsung Odyssey support in Remixed.[19] A June 2019 pre-release, 1.7.0, added experimental OpenXR support for Windows Mixed Reality through a component called ReviveXR, which required Microsoft's Mixed Reality OpenXR app.[20]

The Valve Index Controllers changed how Oculus titles played through Revive. Testing Robo Recall, Echo Arena, First Contact and the Oculus Touch Basics tutorial in June 2019, Road to VR's Ben Lang wrote that "Oculus exclusive content finally feels truly playable with minimal compromise", because the Index controllers' capacitive sensing could reproduce Touch inputs such as grabbing and finger pointing. The main caveat he found was that grabbing was "very sensitive", since Revive registered a grab as soon as the handle was lightly touched.[21] Version 1.8.0 (August 2019) overhauled SteamVR Input support,[22] and 1.9.0 (October 2019) added default bindings for HTC Vive Cosmos controllers.[23]

Version 1.9.2 (December 2019) fixed Stormland crashing on launch and rendering differently in each eye.[24] In January 2020 Road to VR reported that with this version the game worked "out of the box" on Index, Vive, Cosmos, Windows VR and other SteamVR headsets; in its test of the first 20 minutes on an Index the game ran without issue, though performance did not seem quite as good as when played natively on a Rift.[25]

Account linking and later versions (2020-2023)

Version 2.0.0, released on 30 January 2020, let the Revive Dashboard link with an Oculus account to improve online multiplayer support, added scanning of multiple Oculus libraries, and rewrote the Revive Injector with Microsoft Detours to improve reliability.[26] A 3.0.0 pre-release made OpenXR the default backend, with SteamVR as a fallback; its notes warned that performance and compatibility could vary by OpenXR runtime.[27]

Version 3.1.1 (March 2023) replaced Oculus account linking with an automatic login method compatible with Meta accounts, updated the OVR SDK to 32.0.0, and removed the automatic updater because "version releases have become much less frequent".[28] Version 3.2.0 (20 March 2023) updated OpenVR to 1.23.7, rewrote pose prediction, let games recenter room-scale experiences, and added automatic selection of the headset's audio device.[7]

Release history

Version Date Notable changes
First public version April 2016 Proof of concept; Lucky's Tale and Oculus Dreamdeck supported[3]
0.6.2 June 2016 Released after Oculus Runtime 1.5 removed the headset check[6]
1.0 5 December 2016 Oculus Runtime 1.10.0, OpenVR 1.0.4, Touch haptics, tray icon, update checker[13]
1.1 15 April 2017 Oculus Runtime 1.13.0, multi-frame pose prediction, hybrid grip default[29]
1.2.0 31 December 2017 Lua scripting of input mapping, Oculus SDK 1.20[30]
1.3.0 13 April 2018 "Remixed" beta for native Windows Mixed Reality[18]
1.4.0 (beta) 20 May 2018 Early SteamVR Input support, Samsung Odyssey in Remixed[19]
1.6.0 25 November 2018 Oculus SDK 1.31, input bindings for Knuckles controllers[31]
1.7.0 (pre-release) 5 June 2019 Experimental OpenXR support for Windows Mixed Reality (ReviveXR)[20]
1.8.0 16 August 2019 SteamVR Input overhaul, OpenXR 1.0 in ReviveXR (experimental)[22]
1.9.2 11 December 2019 Oculus SDK 1.43, Stormland fixes[24]
2.0.0 30 January 2020 Oculus account linking, multiple libraries, injector rewritten with Microsoft Detours[26]
3.1.1 12 March 2023 Meta account login, OVR SDK 32.0.0, updater removed[28]
3.2.0 20 March 2023 OpenVR 1.23.7, rewritten pose prediction, automatic audio device selection[7]

Features

Revive translates calls that an Oculus PC application makes to the Oculus SDK (LibOVR) into calls to OpenVR and, in newer versions, OpenXR.[1][27] The repository contains separate components for the translation layer (Revive and ReviveXR), an injector that loads Revive into a game process (ReviveInjector), and the dashboard overlay (ReviveOverlay).[1][32] The README's installation instructions are to install the Oculus Rift software on the PC and choose "Skip" at headset selection, install Revive with its installer, start SteamVR, then open the SteamVR dashboard in the headset and select the Revive tab. The README tells users to check the community-compiled compatibility list on the project wiki before buying a game.[1]

Because Oculus titles were designed around Oculus Touch, Revive maps the controllers of other headsets to Touch inputs. From version 1.2.0 users could customize that mapping with Lua scripts.[30] Version 1.4.0 added early support for SteamVR Input, and 1.8.0 overhauled it so that controller poses can also be customized in SteamVR.[19][22] The 1.1.12 release notes state that, with the SteamVR beta, Revive supported Asynchronous reprojection with all Oculus games.[33]

Supported devices

The README names the HTC Vive and Valve Index.[1] Blok said in 2017 that Revive could support any headset with an OpenVR driver, and Road to VR reported in January 2020 that Stormland ran through Revive on the Index, Vive, Vive Cosmos, Windows VR and other SteamVR headsets.[14][25] Native Windows Mixed Reality support without SteamVR was offered first through Remixed and later through the OpenXR-based ReviveXR, both marked beta or experimental in their release notes.[18][20]

Current status

As of October 2026 the GitHub repository is not archived. Its latest release is 3.2.0 from March 2023, and the last commit on the main branch is dated 28 August 2023.[8][7][34] Users were still opening issues in the tracker in 2026.[35] Other tools have since offered routes to Oculus PC titles on non-Rift setups; in February 2020, for example, a Virtual Desktop beta added the ability to stream native Oculus Rift games to a Quest "without needing Revive or SteamVR".[36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Revive Compatibility Layer (README)". GitHub. LibreVR. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Scott Hayden (2017-09-05). "Revive Creator Joins OpenXR Initiative 'to help create a truly open VR standard'". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/revive-creator-joins-openxr-initiative-help-create-truly-open-vr-standard/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 David Jagneaux (2016-04-13). "This Hack Lets You Play Oculus Exclusive Content on the HTC Vive". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/this-hack-lets-you-play-oculus-exclusive-content-on-the-htc-vive/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  4. ↑ "LICENSE". GitHub. LibreVR. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/blob/master/LICENSE. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Paul James (2016-05-24). "Platform Politics: Inside the Oculus and 'Revive' Dilemma". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/security-vs-exclusivity-inside-the-dilema-surrounding-oculus-and-revive/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Devin Coldewey (2016-06-24). "Oculus removes hardware DRM that locked games onto its headset". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/24/oculus-removes-hardware-drm-that-locked-games-onto-its-headset. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Version 3.2.0". GitHub. LibreVR. 2023-03-20. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/3.2.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "LibreVR/Revive repository metadata". GitHub REST API. GitHub. https://api.github.com/repos/LibreVR/Revive. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  9. ↑ Jared Newman (2016-04-14). "Unofficial "Revive" patch ports Oculus VR exclusives to HTC Vive headsets". PCWorld. https://www.pcworld.com/article/414460/unofficial-revive-patch-ports-oculus-vr-exclusives-to-htc-vive-headsets.html. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  10. ↑ Jamie Feltham (2016-05-20). "Surprise, Surprise: Oculus Home Update Indirectly Breaks ReVive Support". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/oculus-update-breaks-revive/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  11. ↑ Emanuel Maiberg (2016-05-22). "Oculus' New DRM Just Made Pirating Games Way Easier". Motherboard (VICE). https://www.vice.com/en/article/oculus-new-drm-just-made-pirating-games-way-easier/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  12. ↑ Jamie Feltham (2016-06-23). "UPDATED: Oculus Removes DRM Restrictions Blocking ReVive Hack". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/confirmed-oculus-removes-drm-restrictions-blocking-revive-hack/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Version 1.0". GitHub. LibreVR. 2016-12-05. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Ben Lang (2017-11-13). "Windows VR Headsets Can Play Oculus Exclusive Games via Revive". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/windows-mixed-reality-headset-vr-play-oculus-rift-exclusive-games-revive/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  15. ↑ Lucas Matney (2017-06-29). "Palmer Luckey backs development of VR tool that lets HTC Vive users play Oculus exclusives". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/29/palmer-luckey-backs-development-of-vr-tool-that-lets-htc-vive-users-play-oculus-exclusives. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  16. ↑ David Jagneaux (2017-06-28). "Oculus Rift Inventor Palmer Luckey Pledges $2K To ReVive Hack". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/oculus-rift-inventor-palmer-luckey-pledges-2k-revive-hack/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  17. ↑ Ryan Daws (2017-09-06). "ReVive developer joins Khronos quest for an open VR standard". Developer-Tech. https://www.developer-tech.com/news/revive-developer-joins-khronos-help-build-open-vr-standard/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Version 1.3.0". GitHub. LibreVR. 2018-04-13. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.3.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Version 1.4.0 Beta". GitHub. LibreVR. 2018-05-20. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "Version 1.7.0 first pre-release". GitHub. LibreVR. 2019-06-05. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.7.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  21. ↑ Ben Lang (2019-06-26). "Oculus Exclusive Games Finally Feel Truly Playable with Index Controllers & Revive". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/valve-index-revive-oculus-rift-exclusive-games-content/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "Version 1.8.0". GitHub. LibreVR. 2019-08-16. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.8.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  23. ↑ "Version 1.9.0". GitHub. LibreVR. 2019-10-18. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.9.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Version 1.9.2". GitHub. LibreVR. 2019-12-11. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.9.2. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Ben Lang (2020-01-02). "'Stormland' Now Works on Index, Vive, Windows VR, & More Thanks to Revive Update". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/stormland-revive-index-vive-wmr-windows-vr/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Version 2.0.0". GitHub. LibreVR. 2020-01-30. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/2.0.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "LibreVR/Revive 3.0.0". NewReleases. https://newreleases.io/project/github/LibreVR/Revive/release/3.0.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Version 3.1.1". GitHub. LibreVR. 2023-03-12. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/3.1.1. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  29. ↑ "Version 1.1". GitHub. LibreVR. 2017-04-15. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.1. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "Version 1.2.0". GitHub. LibreVR. 2017-12-31. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.2.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  31. ↑ "Version 1.6.0". GitHub. LibreVR. 2018-11-25. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.6.0. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  32. ↑ "Building Revive". GitHub. LibreVR. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/blob/master/BUILDING.md. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  33. ↑ "Version 1.1.12". GitHub. LibreVR. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/releases/tag/1.1.12. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  34. ↑ "Commits - LibreVR/Revive". GitHub. LibreVR. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/commits/master. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  35. ↑ "Issues - LibreVR/Revive". GitHub. LibreVR. https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive/issues. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
  36. ↑ Ian Hamilton (2020-02-25). "Virtual Desktop Developer Rewrites Oculus Quest Wireless PC VR Feature". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/virtual-desktop-quest-streaming/. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
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