How to launch your SteamVR games from Oculus Home

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Here's how to add all your SteamVR games natively to your Oculus Home library.

Following a recent update to Oculus Home, various new options have been added for sorting your virtual reality titles. One of the biggest additions is native support for externally sourced games, including those from competing VR platform, SteamVR. The latest update shows a gradual shift from Oculus to accept unauthorized software, acknowledging its storefront isn't the only place to acquire VR content.

As introduced in version 1.17 of Oculus Home, any external software can be added to your library, regardless of where it was initially purchased. Most notably, this means Oculus Rift users can now start their SteamVR-purchased titles without navigating via the Steam interface. Here's how to get started with the feature today.

How to opt into Public Test Channel

As of right now, only version 1.17 of Oculus Home is available exclusively via the Public Test Channel. By switching the channel, you'll be enrolling a pre-release beta version of the software, which may prove to be less stable that the regular public release.

  1. Launch the Oculus app from your desktop, Start menu, or taskbar.
  2. Click the gear button.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Click Beta.
  5. Click the switch next to Public Test Channel so that it turns blue (On).
  6. Click Join Public Test Channel.

You should now be switched over to a pre-release version of Oculus Home, which adds some upcoming feature currently unavailable to the public.

How to see SteamVR games in Oculus Home

After enrolling in the Public Test Channel, you'll now need to add support for third-party sources within the Oculus Home library. To do so, simply navigate to the library filtering options and include unknown software.

  1. Launch the Oculus app from your desktop, Start menu, or taskbar.
  2. Click Library.
  3. Click the Filter drop-down menu.
  4. Click the switch next to Include Unknown Sources so that it turns blue (On).

After enabling this option, third-party software can now be displayed in Oculus Home. However, it currently seems that SteamVR titles must be opened to register within your library, rather than a one-time system scan.

Have you tried out the new library filtering options for Oculus Home? Make sure to drop your thoughts on the update in the comments.

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Matt Brown
Matt Brown

Matt Brown was formerly a Windows Central's Senior Editor, Xbox & PC, at Future. Following over seven years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he’s focused on the world of Microsoft's gaming efforts. You can follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.