Skyrim VR is available to play on Oculus Quest 2. Skyrim was already a hugely successful game, but the addition of VR has brought it to a whole new level of depth and immersion. So, if you are eager to experience Skyrim VR on Oculus Quest 2, what do you need to do?
We'll cover the two most widely used methods to access Skyrim VR on your Oculus Quest 2. We'll also let you know whether or not it's possible to play Skyrim VR without a PC. And if so, how?
How To Play Skyrim VR On Oculus Quest 2
We'll quickly mention that Oculus has, of course, undergone a rebranding exercise, and is now officially known as Meta. So, if you've stumbled across this looking for the Meta Quest 2, the information is still applicable.
As we mentioned in our introduction, there are two methods commonly used to play Skyrim VR on your Quest headset. The first method is wired, by using the Oculus Link cable. The second method is slightly harder, but it is wireless, giving you a little more freedom to move around, should you prefer it.
It almost goes without saying that you need to ensure your PC has the specs to support VR. Oculus recommend a minimum of an Intel i5-4590 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, 8GB RAM or more, and Windows 10. We'll assume you've checked that your PC is up to scratch.
Method 1 - Oculus Link:
Using the Oculus Link is the most straightforward way to play Skyrim VR on your Quest 2. Simply follow these steps:
- Purchase and download Skyrim VR on Steam.
- Next, connect your link cable to your PC. To do this:
- Open the Oculus app on your PC.
- Turn on your Quest 2 or Quest.
- Plug your USB 3 cable into a USB 3.0 port on your PC, then plug the other end into your headset.
- A message is displayed in VR prompting you to Allow access to data. Select Deny. If you mistakenly "Allow" the prompt, you must unplug your USB cable from the Quest and plug it back in.
- When prompted to Enable Oculus Link, select Enable to begin remote rendering using Oculus Link.
- Once you've got your link cable up and running, open Steam VR. You can either do this on your PC or via the app on your headset.
- Find Skyrim VR and click on it to launch the game.
Method 2 - Wireless Skyrim VR:
To play without the link cable isn't particularly different. You do have two options: you can download the Virtual Desktop onto your Quest 2, or you can use Oculus Air Link.
To use Air Link, both your headset and your PC app need to be running v28 software. You can check what version you are on by looking in Settings. To connect your headset, Oculus say the following:
- Put on your Quest 2 headset and press the Oculus button to open the universal menu.
- Select Settings then select Experimental Features.
- Find and select the button next to Air Link.
- Read the Air Link Requirements, and then select Continue.
- Find and select your PC in the Available PCs list then select Pair.
- Once pairing is complete, you can now click Launch.
To use Virtual Desktop:
- Download and install the Virtual desktop app.
- Open the app, then open Steam VR.
- In Steam VR, Search for Skyrim VR directly or via going to your Steam Library
- Click on the Skyrim VR game and launch it
Can You Play Skyrim On Oculus Quest 2 Without Using A PC?
Skyrim VR is only available via Steam. And in order to use Steam, you need a PC. So yes, if you want to play Skyrim VR on your Quest 2, you are going to need a PC.
One of the reasons for this is that a lot of the VR games that are available on Steam are simply too much for the Quest hardware to cope with on its own. The Quest 2 comes with 6GB RAM, but Steam recommend a minimum of 8GB RAM for Skyrim VR.
The same applies to other VR games, most notably Half-Life: Alyx, which needs an enormous 12GB RAM, double what you can get on Quest 2. This may be disappointing, but it does ensure you get the best VR experience possible.
So, if you want to do some questing on your Quest 2 with Skyrim VR, you will need to use a half-decent PC as well as your Oculus headset. It remains to be seen whether it will become possible to play the game directly on the Quest Pro.