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You can play Oculus-exclusive games on HTC Vive with this simple hack

Just don't expect them to work very well.

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
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Sean Hollister

The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive aren't as different as you'd think. Both top-tier VR headsets use a pair of lenses to magnify a pair of screens that display images from similarly powerful gaming PCs. And now, you can play games designed for the Oculus Rift on the HTC Vive, too -- even games that were supposedly exclusive to the Oculus platform.

Though if my experience is anything to go by, the games may not run well enough to make it worth your while.

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If you see this message, try checking "Unknown Sources" in your Oculus settings and then restart your computer.

Screenshot by Sean Hollister/CNET

I tried Lucky's Tale and Oculus DreamDeck, two titles that come free with the Oculus Home software. Both worked -- but on my barely-good-enough-for-VR gaming PC, images stuttered enough that they were basically unplayable. Keep in mind that unlike traditional PC games, stuttering in VR can actually make you sick.

Another catch: you have to use the "Revive" hack at Github to modify your games. While it worked for me, it could theoretically open up your PC to all sorts of unpleasantness.

"This is a hack, and we don't condone it," said Oculus, in a statement issued today. "Users should expect that hacked games won't work indefinitely, as regular software updates to games, apps, and our platform are likely to break hacked software."

Disclosure: Sean's wife works for Facebook, owner of Oculus VR.