Revitalization Coming: ‘Oasis’ WMR Driver Set for Release This Month for Microsoft’s PC VR Headsets

I was poking around online—ugh, I really should be working, but you know how it goes—and stumbled on something curious about Microsoft and their VR stuff. Turns out, they stopped supporting that whole Windows Mixed Reality on Windows 11. Yeah, pretty much pulled the plug last year. But hey, here’s a twist: a clever fellow named Matthieu Bucchianeri is cooking up an unofficial SteamVR driver he’s calling ‘Oasis’. Sounds dreamy, right? It’s supposed to show up later this month, fingers crossed.

This Oasis thing is meant to get those abandoned Windows Mixed Reality headsets chatting with SteamVR again. Without Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Portal, they’re like ships without a sea. I took a detour to Bucchianeri’s GitHub—why did I even go there?—and he says Oasis will handle the whole 6DoF tracking jazz and motion controllers. Exciting, if you’re into that techie stuff.

Now, don’t get too hyped if you’re waving an AMD flag. Oasis is sticking with Nvidia because, well, something about GPU drivers and SteamVR just clicks better. Matthieu’s tried wooing AMD, but it’s like shouting into the void. He spilled some tea on Reddit—basically, AMD’s playing hard to get when it comes to letting third parties in on their LiquidVR. Shenanigans, right?

Oh, and remember back in October when Microsoft ditched WMR with their Windows 11 24H2 update? Yeah, that was a bummer for all those Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Samsung headsets just collecting dust now.

Bucchianeri’s backstory is fun: he’s ex-Microsoft mixed reality guy, now wrestling with firmware for Xbox. But Oasis? Totally his side gig. It’s kosher though, no NDA breaches or borrowing Microsoft’s toys, if you were wondering.

I probably should’ve been racing toward some deadline—or was it a different rabbit hole I was supposed to be diving into? Guess we’ll find out if Oasis fills that void. Or not. Who knows.