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Windows Mixed Reality Apps

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See also: Windows 10 VR and Windows Mixed Reality

Windows Mixed Reality Apps are the applications and games that run on Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality platform, the virtual reality and mixed reality system built into Windows 10 and Windows 11.[1] The platform launched on October 17, 2017, with immersive headsets from Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung.[2] Users could get software for it from three main sources: the Microsoft Store, which supplied both immersive apps and ordinary 2D Windows apps; Steam, through a Microsoft bridge called Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR; and WebVR sites opened in the Microsoft Edge browser.[3]

Microsoft announced the deprecation of Windows Mixed Reality in December 2023 and removed it in Windows 11, version 24H2. The removal covers the Mixed Reality Portal app, Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR and Steam VR Beta. Microsoft says existing devices continue to work with Steam through November 2026 if users stay on Windows 11, version 23H2, and that the platform receives no further updates or support after that date.[4]

Reviewed 27 September 2026. Checked all new prose against the cited Microsoft Learn guides, Windows Experience Blog post, Steam store pages, Road to VR and PCWorld articles; the pre-existing app list was not checked. About review dates.

App sources

Microsoft Store

In a headset, Windows Mixed Reality starts in the Mixed Reality home, a virtual environment that users can walk or teleport around and decorate with app windows and holograms. Microsoft's enthusiast guide describes the home as "the canvas for the thousands of apps available in the Microsoft Store or SteamVR." Users open the Start menu with the Windows button on a motion controller, choose an app, and place it in the home; after that, the app's 3D model in the home launches it. The Microsoft Store runs inside the home, and a shopping bag object called "New for you" shows new apps to download or buy.[5]

Store software falls into two groups. Immersive apps take over the headset view; Microsoft's guide uses HoloTour as the example of a first immersive game to install. Regular 2D apps, such as Candy Crush, run as flat slates placed in the home and can be controlled with motion controllers, a mouse and keyboard, or a gamepad. A desktop app (listed in the Start menu as Desktop Preview) shows the user's PC desktop inside the headset, so full desktop programs such as Photoshop or AutoCAD can also be used.[3]

Before launch, Microsoft's Alex Kipman wrote that on October 17, 2017, Windows Mixed Reality users could "enjoy the more than 20,000 apps in the Microsoft Store."[2] Only a small share of those were built for VR. When Road to VR covered the SteamVR preview in November 2017, it counted 61 VR apps in the Windows Store and wrote that the store had "only a handful of highlights and no meaningful exclusives."[6]

SteamVR

Microsoft worked with Valve to run SteamVR content on Windows Mixed Reality headsets.[2] Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR became available to consumers as a free public preview on Steam on November 15, 2017. Microsoft warned of "known performance and experience issues" in the preview.[6] The Steam store page for the software lists Microsoft Studios as developer and publisher, a release date of April 30, 2018, and a free price. It says the software lets users "experience more than 2,000 titles from the Steam VR library" and requires the Windows 10 April 2018 Update or later.[7]

Microsoft describes the component as a "bridge" between SteamVR and the Windows headset, updated automatically through Steam, with an optional public beta branch for earlier updates. SteamVR games are launched from the Steam app on the desktop, or from inside the headset through the Desktop app. Pressing down on a thumbstick opens the Steam dashboard, and the Windows button returns the user to the Mixed Reality home. When a Windows Mixed Reality headset is plugged in, SteamVR games always launch on it, so users with several headsets had to unplug it to use another one.[1]

The bridge also has an experimental motion reprojection mode. When it is active, SteamVR games render at half frame rate (45 fps instead of 90 fps) and the bridge uses GPU-generated motion vectors to extrapolate the missing frames. Microsoft says the mode is meant for games that reliably reach 60 fps or more on a given PC, lists the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 and AMD RX 470 as minimum supported GPUs, and warns of artifacts such as warped text and HUD elements.[1]

WebVR in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge could open WebVR content in the headset, either from the Edge window placed in the Mixed Reality home or from Edge on the Windows desktop. The user selects the site's "Enter VR" button and grants permission the first time a domain asks to use the immersive view. Microsoft's guide gave A-Painter, A-Blast, Sketchfab and CNN VR as example sites.[3]

OpenXR

Windows Mixed Reality also has an OpenXR runtime. Microsoft says it is installed and made active automatically for all Windows Mixed Reality users and kept up to date through the Microsoft Store. Windows 10 October 2020 Update (20H2) is the minimum supported release for running OpenXR applications on Windows Mixed Reality headsets. If another headset vendor's software takes over as the active OpenXR runtime, the Mixed Reality Portal offers a "Fix it" button to switch back.[8]

Launch titles

Kipman's launch announcement named Obduction, Dreams of Dali, Space Pirate Trainer, Superhot, Arizona Sunshine, Luna, Skyworld, Move, Free the Night, Minecraft and Fantastic Contraption as titles that "will take advantage of the Universal Windows Platform."[2]

Halo: Recruit

Microsoft also said that Halo fans could get "their first glimpse of what mixed reality and Halo can feel like" on October 17, 2017.[2] In hands-on coverage published the day it was revealed, Road to VR reported that Halo: Recruit would be available through the Windows Store beginning October 17 and that 343 Industries, while overseeing the project, appeared to have worked with VR studio Endeavor One to make it. Road to VR described it as "a quick five minute experience that boils down to a Halo-themed shooting gallery."[9]

Galaxy Explorer

Galaxy Explorer is an open-source app that Microsoft first developed for the original HoloLens through its Share Your Idea program. When one of Microsoft's Mixed Reality Studios teams began updating it for HoloLens 2 in 2019, the team said it would keep the app a multi-platform experience for HoloLens (first gen), HoloLens 2, Windows Mixed Reality headsets and the Windows 10 desktop, and that it would open-source the project on GitHub, as with the original.[10]

Deprecation and later status

Windows 11, version 24H2 was released on October 1, 2024, and removed Windows Mixed Reality support. Road to VR reported that the update ended support for Windows Mixed Reality headsets from Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP and Samsung, including the HP Reverb G2, the last headset added to the platform.[11] Microsoft's guidance is that users who stay on Windows 11, version 23H2 can keep using their headsets with Steam through November 2026.[4]

Some apps dropped headset support on their own schedule. Microsoft ended VR and mixed reality support in the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft. In October 2024 it said that "Our ability to support VR/MR devices has come to an end, and will no longer be supported in updates after March of 2025". PCWorld reported in May 2025 that Bedrock Edition version 1.21.80 removed support for both virtual reality and mixed reality devices.[12]

Oasis driver

On August 29, 2025, developer Matthieu Bucchianeri released the Oasis Driver for Windows Mixed Reality, a free SteamVR driver on Steam. It gives Windows Mixed Reality headsets such as the HP Reverb and Samsung Odyssey headset tracking, controller support and native SteamVR rendering without the Mixed Reality Portal, and it can run both OpenVR and OpenXR applications through SteamVR. The store page says the driver targets Windows 11 users, works best on version 24H2 and later, and does not support Intel graphics cards; AMD support requires RDNA cards.[13] When Road to VR first reported on the project in June 2025, before release, the developer said the driver supported "full 6DoF tracking along with motion controllers" and would be restricted to Nvidia GPUs, and that the code would not be open source because much of it came from reverse engineering.[14]

List of apps

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Using SteamVR with Windows Mixed Reality - Enthusiast Guide". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. 2025-11-24. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/mixed-reality/enthusiast-guide/using-steamvr-with-windows-mixed-reality. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Alex Kipman (2017-10-03). "The era of Windows Mixed Reality begins October 17". Windows Experience Blog. Microsoft. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/10/03/the-era-of-windows-mixed-reality-begins-october-17/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Using games and apps in Windows Mixed Reality - Enthusiast Guide". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. 2017-12-10. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/mixed-reality/enthusiast-guide/using-games-and-apps-in-windows-mixed-reality. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Deprecated features in the Windows client". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. 2026-09-23. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/deprecated-features. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  5. ↑ "Your Mixed Reality home - Enthusiast Guide". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. 2017-12-10. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/mixed-reality/enthusiast-guide/your-mixed-reality-home. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ben Lang (2017-11-15). "Windows Mixed Reality VR Headsets Can Now Play Games on Steam". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/windows-vr-mixed-reality-steam-support-steamvr-preview/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  7. ↑ "Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/719950/Windows_Mixed_Reality_for_SteamVR/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  8. ↑ "Getting started with OpenXR". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. 2021-10-14. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/develop/native/openxr-getting-started. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  9. ↑ Ben Lang (2017-10-03). "Hands-on: 'Halo: Recruit' in VR is the First Taste of Halo's True Scale". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/hands-on-halo-recruit-vr-mixed-reality-is-the-first-taste-of-halos-true-scale/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  10. ↑ "The Making of Galaxy Explorer for HoloLens 2". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. 2019-06-30. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/develop/unity/galaxy-explorer-update. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  11. ↑ Scott Hayden (2024-10-02). "Windows 11 No Longer Supports Microsoft's Windows VR Headsets Following October Update". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/windows-11-drops-wmr-support-24h2/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  12. ↑ Mark Hachman (2025-05-06). "Minecraft officially kills support for VR". PCWorld. https://www.pcworld.com/article/2773555/minecraft-officially-kills-support-for-vr.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  13. ↑ "Oasis Driver for Windows Mixed Reality on Steam". Steam. Valve. 2025-08-29. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3824490/Oasis_Driver_for_Windows_Mixed_Reality/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  14. ↑ Scott Hayden (2025-06-09). "Unofficial SteamVR Driver Will Reportedly Enable Support for WMR Headsets on Latest Windows Versions". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/unofficial-steamvr-windows-11-mixed-reality-driver/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
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