One intrepid programmer releases proof of concept software which allows HTC Vive owners to play certain Oculus Rift-exclusive games such as Lucky's Tale.

The dawn of a full range of virtual reality headsets is nearly upon us, with the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift currently on the market and PlayStation VR arriving in October. That means that the battle for virtual reality supremacy is truly hotting up, and the quality of content on each of the devices is sure to be one of the deciding factors. However, those HTC Vive owners interested in seeing exactly what the exclusives of the Rift have to offer are apparently able to access the games, thanks to a handy piece of software.

This proof of concept software, which was created by a single programmer going by the name CrossVR over on Reddit, purportedly allows Vive users to play content that is exclusive to the Oculus Rift. So far, the programmer in question has had a great deal of success, after being able to get both Lucky's Tale and Oculus Dreamdeck working on the competitor headset. By looking at the software's GitHub page, it seems as though more functionality is on the horizon, including support for Oculus Touch and games that use Oculus Platform online functionality.

The software is only in its alpha stage at the moment, but so far Vive users have been singing the praises of CrossVR's creation. The software itself works by "reimplementing functions from the Oculus Runtime and translating them to OpenVR calls," and each of the two pieces of content tested works with a simple patch install. At the moment, users require Windows 8 or 10, and the software is only compatible with an Xbox controller, but additional functionality is expected with updates.

Whether or not Oculus allows work on the project to continue, however, is another matter. Although the software requires users to purchase the games in question, it still allows Vive owners to access content that they shouldn't. Although Oculus launched with an impressive lineup of over 30 games, the headset creator may be protective over its exclusive content.

CrossVR is planning to add more games to its list of compatible titles, which will add to the already extensive list of Vive-compatible games. With SteamVR launching alongside the Vive headset itself, already users can get their hands on a wide variety of different titles. However, users will no doubt make of use of this quick way to try out even more games.

Although the launch of both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets have had the odd issue, such as shipping problems when delivering the first wave of headsets, overall the release of both devices has gone relatively smoothly. Both sides will now be hoping to keep up plenty of momentum for the rest of the year. Whether or not one headset comes out on top, however, remains to be seen.

Sources: Reddit, GitHub