Cyan Worlds has released its big 2.0 update to MYST (2020), the VR-supported remake of the classic ’90s point-and-click adventure game, which includes performance boosts and improvements to stability for PC VR users.

The studio says in a recent Steam update that many of those performance woes have been resolved thanks to upgrading Myst from using Unreal Engine 4.27+ to Unreal Engine 5.3.2.

This has also pushed Cyan Worlds to adopt OpenXR in Myst, as it previously relied on the older OpenVR API, which is compatible with SteamVR. This, according to the studio, brings stability improvements, more generic launch options, and a more flexible environment for VR users.

Now, when booting the game for PC, users will see a single launch option that should work for all officially supported headsets, and possibly unsupported ones too, the studio says, which is largely thanks to OpenXR support.

While Myst can unofficially run on any SteamVR-supported headset, the studio says the new update drops official support for the original Rift headset and Quest 1 through Quest Link, as well as the original HTC Vive.

“This doesn’t mean that you CAN’T play Myst with those headsets, it just means that we are unable to give official support for them anymore. This statement also applies to WMR headsets, of which we only supported the HP Reverb 2 previously, but we will unfortunately no longer be able to officially support it, especially because of Microsoft’s own announcements to deprecate this support on Windows,” the studio says.

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For PC VR users, Cyan warns that “mileage may vary” based on your machine, however the studio reports increased performance on some hardware, and decreased performance on others, to which the studio recommends toying with the existing and updated supersampling options.

The studio also fixed a number of VR-specific issues in Myst’s 2.0 update, such as resolving a height change bug when teleporting and menu visibility issues in certain game areas. The update also fixed backward movement glitches, random teleport loss, crashes upon exiting certain rooms, and inconsistencies in visual effects between eyes, along with refining VR menu bindings for smoother access across different SteamVR configurations.

It remains to be seen when the standalone Quest version will get similar focus from the studio, which released Myst sequel Riven (2024) back in June—optimized for Quest 3. Cyan Worlds says Quest and other platforms will get a patch “soon,” however the studio hasn’t released a clear estimate at the time of this writing.

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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 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Foreign Devil

    Already finished the game 4 years ago. Will certainly buy Riven if they make a VR version.

    • victor

      Steam version has VR support

      • Foreign Devil

        Is it good and thorough VR support or just something slapped on?

        • Runesr2

          Better than Myst VR, Riven VR is awesome. Firmament VR has issues, but still is a great experience.

        • patfish

          Riven is for me one of the best looking VR Games ever made!
          And no one is talking about on VR-Platforms like this :(

          • mirak

            Obduction was the most impressive on the world visuals to me.

            But on all 4 of Obduction, Myst, Firmament and Riven, there is some rendering and performance issues, were you have to fight in the settings to have someting not too blury or bad aliasing.

            I never really could find perfect clarity and an acceptable setting, but I played anyway and enjoyed them as usual of course.

            Something like The Gallery is way better technically, but artistically it's pretty far behind.

            I played Riven 30 years ago, I realised that so far I remember nothing, so that's great ^^

  • Pablito

    Don't bother Cyan! I played Myst Riven on Quest 3 native and the erratic frame rate was never solved- just given up on!!! Definitely NOT an issue where there's just too much processing taking place for the XR2 mobile processor to handle- this erratic frame rate shows up at random times- never producing the same effect in the same graphical place!!! LAME!

  • Totius

    Having time to just play one, which one between riven, myst, obduction and firmament would you pick to play on quest 3? (I can plug it in also to a PC, if necessary)