Bethesda recently announced that Fallout 4 (2015) is coming to HTC Vive this October, and Skyrim (2011) is soon to follow sometime in late 2017 on PlayStation VR. Amidst talk of platform exclusivity, the company took to twitter to quell some fears in the community, tweeting out yesterday that they “plan on supporting as many platforms as [they] can.”

While Bethesda’s Doom VFR is coming to PSVR and HTC Vive straight away, the company hasn’t spoken in specific terms exactly when either Skyrim VR or Fallout 4 VR will make it across the aisle to other VR platforms (read: timed exclusivity). On top of that, the company has made no official mention of Oculus Rift support for any of their upcoming VR titles. Consider the following tweet though:

Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax was engaged in a legal battle with Oculus/Facebook earlier this year, and to say there’s bad blood between the two companies is a bit of an understatement when ZeniMax was awarded $500M in damages after bringing a lawsuit for $4B surrounding exactly who owned the intellectual property that was vital in creating the Oculus Rift.

Despite these legal troubles, Bethesda’s plan to support “as many platforms as [they] can” sounds like good news for Rift owners, considering it would take very little to enable Rift/Touch support after ensuring the initial pull for HTC Vive via Steam. After all, SteamVR supports HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and OSVR natively.

SEE ALSO
'Stranger Things VR' Review – Artful But Boring Brand Engagement

It’s entirely possible that Bethesda decides to enable a hardware lock specific to the HTC Vive, necessitating a “Rift hack” like the one used to skate around the headset check inn Google Earth VR before official Rift support was available. They are however a pragmatic company, one that likely won’t throw away the opportunity to earn the full price of $59.99 for either VR versions of Skyrim or Fallout 4.

The question remains: is Bethesda going to openly snub Facebook (and Rift owners by proxy) by locking them out of their VR games? The answer may be less dramatic than you think. Bethesda may not openly list Rift support, but unofficially allow it access without announcing it to the world. A win-win (sort of) for Rift owners and Bethesda.

Only time will tell, but the chances of stalking The Wasteland or battling a 9-foot, club-totting giant on your choice of VR hardware are good, because whatever happens, there’s always likelihood of a day-1 hack should ZeniMax take the grudge to its logical extreme.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • John Collins

    As many could mean anything. I could say i plan on purchasing as many new consoles as i can. In actuality i can only purchase one. Either way one can hope.

  • NooYawker

    Money talks. They need all the customers they can get.

    • Caven

      They can always split the difference, as the article suggests. Supporting the Rift doesn’t mean the game has to be listed on the Oculus store. That would allow them to still have access to the combined VR user base without having to pay Oculus for each copy played on a Rift.

    • Get Schwifty!

      I don’t know about that – I’ve seen corporate pride eat into a lot of profits over time with strange decisions that cost a lot of money and sales :)

      • Mr. New Vegas

        They trying to sell us what we already have! To pay 60$ for games most of us already own, there wont be Fre VR upgrades, no one spoke about this, SkyrimVR preorders are full price on web sites

        • Get Schwifty!

          You don’t *have* the VR version…. its a different product, not sure why people think they are entitled to it. It’s like buying a recording by an artist, the artist makes a remastered version and you are entitled to it by default?

          • Mr. New Vegas

            HUH? So lets pay for Keyboard Version, TV version, Gamepad Version, Monitor Version etc each controller and monitor will get full priced edition.

            The only reason they doing is because so much time passed, but if it was a brand new game coming out and splitting the game into edition, i would never support such BS and thievery.

          • Unfortunately this is how the market works. You can buy the same game on the Oculus store and again on Steam or the same game on PC and for your console. I have often bought the same game twice on steam so that friends can play against me, in my own house on two computers.

            I would hope that at full $60 it would come with more than just VR controls though. Maybe revamped graphics or totally new in game cinematics, quests etc.

          • Get Schwifty!

            Hell I’ve done it just to get exclusive items *hides face in shame*.

          • Lemming

            I consider it a little bit like the time when you had to have the cd in your pc to play the game, then you need two copies of it – but in this digital age that shouldnt be necessary.
            As for your example: I hope you don’t do this to this day, otherwise look into steam family sharing :)

            As for the full vr price thing I’d find it okay, that, if you had the game before, you pay a little bit less, it could be still 75-90% of their price now, but just a little bit appreciation for the customer while still funding AAA VR titles.
            Full price for everyone feels so disregarding imo

          • Steam Family Sharing does not allow you to play the one game at the same time on two computers though does it? e.g. CoD games.

          • Get Schwifty!

            You got it- you pay each time; it’s a different product.

        • Tommel

          I think they also know how desperately the VR community is waiting for real games to come and that almost everybody is going to buy it no matter how expensive it is. There are simply no alternatives at the moment.

          • NooYawker

            I know I’m paying because yea, I’m desperate. We need some AAA content badly.

    • Not my money, I’ll never forget

  • Gerald Terveen

    Unless I am missing something this is a misleading headline! It could just as well mean “we want to bring Skyrim to PC as well”.

    As for Oculus support – I have no clue how bringing content to the platform will affect their attempts to stop them from selling them. They might have reason to make sure it won’t run on Oculus powered device so the other side can not claim they expect to lose or otherwise they wouldn’t make customers out of the users.

    • Mike

      Don’t look for logic there. They are doing that “smile to everybody we’re good guys while a nasty message sips between the teeth at Oculus” type thing.

      But we all know Carmack left bc they butchered his Doom idea, and Zenimax has no VR and/or interest shown; like a dog sitting on a pile of hay not letting cows eat it while won’t eat it itself.

      I am glad reviews show how other stuff is trash, and Rift is worth it. I am also glad Steam is failing with Vive for not releasing HL3 bc don’t have to – selling games of others is too lucrative, where as fans like me gave them starting dosh in 2003 (or 2004) buying HL2 on Steam.

      So its good Steam is failing for being greedy. Also good Zenimax is failing bc standing in the way of VR progress and thus public’s interest, and because Bethesda’s games are clunky, choppy, horrible hit registration – should have used ID engines all along. You hear that, Bethesda??? Your engine is sh1t. Please use the latest ID engine and make a game that truly makes everyone go “Wow!”.

  • Me

    I want Skyrim on my iPhone, and strap it to my face, so I can hunt wooly mammoths everywhere I go.

    No seriously, give us a release date on PC for Skyrim, and don’t make us pay triple for this game everyone already has.

    • Sam Illingworth

      You kill the mammoths!?!

      • Me

        Just to piss off the giants (^_^)’

        • Sam Illingworth

          I like the giants – they kill dragons for me!

    • Mr. New Vegas

      All the VR games are standalone 60$ titles, no free upgrades

    • Get Schwifty!

      I think a good will gesture of reduced cost for customer who own the product is a good idea, but at the end of the day it _is_ a different product. As I mentioned earlier, owning a recording of a song or movie doesn’t entitle you to a new version of it automatically.

      • Mike

        Same content >< different product. Nvidia 3d vision was compatible right away, did not ask you for more money. People can get VorpX – then Bethesda gets nothing. Here everybody – buy VorpX for $40, play games like Dark Souls(1+2), Quake 1, 2, 3 (!) n many more in VR of your choice.

  • Mr. New Vegas

    So Skyrim and Doom is PSVR confirmed? Thats great.
    If Fallout 4 VR comes to PSVR i might get it too.
    Its sad to play Fallout on a console when you have 1080Ti, but VR games do run in native PSVR resolution on the PRO so at least ill get the best possible looking Console Crap.

    P.S.Im not interested in wasting my money on Gen1 PC VR, at least PSVR had pure OLED screen with no screendoor effect and proper lenses without the Frenzel god rays

    • Get Schwifty!

      And of course the PSVR has relative to VIVE/RIFT crap tracking even when it works reasonably well in 180 degrees. Just saying, there’s more to the whole question than the issues you have with the HMD displays that are differences. You’re more than welcome to ‘waste” your money on PSVR and “waste the time” out of the lifetime with a 1080ti waiting on post Gen1 PC VR ;-)

      • Mr. New Vegas

        I own PSVR with PS4PRO from day one, never experienced any issues with Tracking, they are highly exaggerated. But I also never played any VR on a standard PS4 so cant say anything for that.

        My 1080Ti is not wasted, I buy a new video card as soon as they release one that faster than mine.

        I found MS VR solution very interesting, the inside out tracking, the price, the fact that we will get affordable OLED (not AMOLED crap like on vive/rift) with higher resolution and even more pixel density (BTW if you go pixel counting even PSVR has higher resolution than vive/rift since amoled has 8 subpixels per pixel and Oled has 12) HMDs for lower price and more interesting tracking solution.
        They also working on VR gamepad, so it will be a total solution.

        • Get Schwifty!

          Lol the effective visual doesn’t live up to what the count suggests everyone knows this. Not sure how you figure a 5 year old camera solution that virtually every reviewer and countless owners decry is intersting but if thats your POV i doubt anyone can convince you otherwise.

          • Mr. New Vegas

            You cant argue with numbers, no such thing as everyone knows, if it has less pixels, it has less pixels its that simple.

            Stop talking about tracking, I have ZERO interest in gaming standing up, walking or doing any kind of movements when I game. I want to sit down and move my head 1:1 thats it, sometimes I might want to use hand tracking but most of the time im 100% fine using classical gamepad with thumbsticks.

            Gaming is relaxing and having fun, not exercising, running around, jumping and kneeling like OCD.

          • patchy571

            Yes you can’t argue with numbers. The PSVR has effectively less pixels than The Vive and Oculus Rift. PSVR is 960 by 1080 per eye. This is compared to the rift and vive which boy are 1200 by 1080 per eye. So you’re right. The PSVR has less pixels, and worse tracking! Glad you proved everyone’s point except your own.

            Also, if you don’t want to run around, jump, kneel, or interact with things, than maybe VR isn’t for you. The whole point of VR is being able to interact with the world around you. Really feel it. Walk around in it and explore it. Not sit on your couch like a potato.

          • Mr. New Vegas

            Bah kid you failed in math

            960×1080 = 1036800 Pixels
            1036800 Pixels x 12 Sub pixels = 12441600 sub pixels per screen for PSVR

            1200×1080 = 1296000 pixels
            1296000 Pixels x 8 sub pixels = 10368000 sub pixels per screen for VIVE/Rift

            12441600 (psvr) minus 10368000 (rift/vive) = 2073600
            PSVR WINS with 2073600 Sub pixels more (Thats over 2 million)

            How many pixels equals 2073600 sub pixels for each technology?

            OLED = 2073600 sub pixels / 12 (12 sub pixels per pixel) = 172800 OLED pixels more for PSVR

            AMOLED (RIFT/VIVE) = 2073600 sub pixels / 8 (8 sub pixels per pixel) = 259200 AMOLED pixels more for PSVR

            End of math lesson:
            PSVR Wins with 2073600 sub pixels or 172800 actual pixels more than Vive/Rift

          • patchy571

            First off can you explain to me what a Subpixel is and how it actually benefits screen resolution in comparison to normal pixels? I already know the answer, but an very curious of your response considering you seem to have thrown some random numbers around.

            First off pentile displays have 2 sub pixels.

            Full RGB have 3. So your fraction of 8-12 is right, but you’re overblowing the actual number.

            Also all three use OLED displays.The Rifts and Vives are Amoled, but they still are OLED.

            But let’s focus on what a Subpixel is and how it benefits overall resolution.

          • Mr. New Vegas

            My count was perfect, your 2vs3 is a TOTAL number, I counted per pixel.

            See attached images from Samsung own material.

            AMOLED vs Super AMOLED PLUS (aka OLED) and image of Diamond AMOLED Pixel, it has exactly 8 sub-pixels.

            Its not just how many sub pixels but the technology itself

            AMOLED is “poor mans” OLED, its cheaper technology, with poor color, less sub pixels, lower brightness and its not VR friendly.

            The so called “lower resolution” PSVR has almost zero screen door effect compared to “higher resolution” Vive that IMHO unusable.

            P.S. Super AMOLED PLUS in comparisons is actual proper OLED.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a86ed13bdc888d2c53305c4fbc5db7481ee68216340fd0adf03ba2ca50ca48c3.jpg

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3377d9f174207d309ecd36c2daf95ac42a04cc6ad7ca0240ca798fca463d800a.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/10bfde8f0ff71ea760711a802a172795902bf82e859e4dcc3517fd7e5bff1dd6.jpg

          • Mike

            Excuse me sir, but wouldn’t it be cheaper to just do Nvidia 3D Vision? I feel skeptical about doing all that VR-associated movement myself… 3D Vision supports hundreds of titles, with enthusiast community creating OpenGL middleware solutions and such to enjoy very old games like Quake I/II. Won’t it be more comfortable to wear just glasses (for $120) than a bulky thing? I guess that VR knows which way you turn your head must be appealing.

        • theOwlBoyz

          LOL Have you try Vive or not?

          I own PSVR and I do admit PSVR tracking system is crappy, it’s like apple and orange comparison when comes to tracking. Vive is like holy grail in tracking department.

          Anyway, enjoy early stage of VR

  • hassan ahmad

    please can some one buy me a oculus rift or htc vive and a high end pc bcause i also want to play these games but i am a poor person and i dont have any money to buy it, i cant afford it please some one just do some pitty on me

  • hassan ahmad

    Please someone just do that

  • hassan ahmad

    Every time i watch gameplays of these games i cry out loudly Please someone help me

  • Mermado 1936

    I just hope they don’t release it in Oculus… they don’t deserve it. They can release in any open vr headset they want, but don’t Oculus.

    • eastern cattle

      fk u. i deserve it.

  • Mermado 1936

    Some people should look what a “platform” mean… PC is a platform, Ps4 is a platform… what I understand is that both tittles will be release in console and PC… when im talk about PC I talk about Vive.

    Its simple, they can say “we are going to release in Oculus”… they never said that and they had 1 year to say that… but they never did.

  • polysix

    after the rift sale and the inevitable bypassing of vive sales by rift in the coming months, I think Bethesda will soon get over their oculus issue and go where the money is. Rift is now kiling it for gen 1 after the sale and Lone Echo being an excellent poster boy for VR. Vive is looking more and more ‘done’ by the day, and I used to own one, it was terrible vs the Rift (and is now twice as expensive!) lol.

    Rift is the only real contender now in gen 1, quality, ergonomics, and polish. Vive is like a dev kit and PSVR can’t track for shit. Had them all sold them all except rift. That’ll do me till gen 2.