Battle royale games have seen a surge in popularity in recent years, with none being more popular than Fortnite.
The third-person shooter is available on nearly all previous and current generations of consoles and PCs. It’s the allure of competing with friends and fellow players in an expansive open area that keeps the player count of Fortnite consistently high.
And being one of the most popular games around, you may be wondering if it’s possible to run it in VR. After all, virtual reality headsets can breathe new life into any game with their smooth and immersive experience.
So, let’s see if Fortnite can be played on the Oculus Quest 2 and how to go about doing so. Here’s all the information you need about the battle royale on VR!
Fortnite In VR: The Possibilities
To answer if you can play Fortnite on VR, we’d say no. The game does not natively support VR, and as a result, you cannot simply plug your Oculus Quest 2 in and begin playing it. This also means that no VR headset currently supports Fortnite. But that doesn’t mean you can’t force the game to run in VR!
It’s the flexibility of gaming PC and Android devices that allows it, through a few third-party applications and tweaks. Once you’re done setting up Fortnite on VR, the game will run about as well on VR headsets as it usually does.
However, forcing Fortnite to run on VR doesn’t mean that it will have all the capabilities of a traditional VR game, namely first-person mode and controls. But it is still a marked improvement in the immersion compared to an ordinary display.
Playing Fortnite On Oculus Quest 2
1. What You Need
The most critical part of running Fortnite in virtual reality is the Virtual Desktop app that streams your PC screen to the Oculus Quest 2. Of course, this will require a lot of processing power, requiring a PC with high enough specifications to handle the task seamlessly.
To run the game without any issues, your PC must match or surpass the minimum system requirements, as detailed below:
- Processor: Intel Core i3-3225 3.3 GHz or equivalent
- RAM: 4 GB
- Operating System: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
- GPU: Intel HD 4000
And to experience the game in its maximum settings and framerate, your PC must match the recommended specifications as listed here:
- Processor: Intel Core i5-7300U 3.5 GHz or equivalent
- RAM: 8 GB or higher
- Operating System: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
- GPU: NVIDIA GTX 660 or greater
- Pixel Shader: 5.0
- Dedicated VRAM: 2048 MB
- Vertex Shader: 5.0
Additionally, your PC must meet the system requirements of the Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset as well. The recommended requirements are:
- Processor: Intel Core i5-4590 or equivalent
- RAM: 8 GB or higher
- Operating System: Windows 10
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or equivalent
- Pixel Shader: 5.1
- Dedicated VRAM: 3 GB
- Vertex Shader: 5.1
You’ll want to remain as undeterred by wires as you play Fortnite VR, so it’s preferable to have a wireless control setup. And with your Oculus Quest 2 at the ready, you can begin setting up Fortnite VR on your device.
2. Play Fortnite VR On a PC
Start by installing the Virtual Desktop app on your PC and Oculus Quest 2 after downloading the installation package from the official website. The app is available on Mac as well if you wish to play Fortnite VR on your Apple device.
Next, connect your Oculus Quest 2 headset to the PC and complete the initial setup. After this, you can start streaming your desktop screen to the VR headset through the Virtual Desktop app. And lastly, using your controller, keyboard, or mouse, launch the game to begin your first Fortnite PC gameplay experience in VR.
3. Play Fortnite VR On Android Devices
You needn’t limit yourself to a PC if you’d prefer playing on a mobile device. The setup process is slightly different, where you sideload the game on the Android device and pair a Bluetooth controller with it.
Your Oculus headset will run the game on a screen similar to that of the Fortnite VR experience on the PC version.
Will There Be An Official Fortnite VR In The Near Future?
Unfortunately, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has been on record saying that the game may not have VR support at all. This is due to the extremely fast-paced movement of the player character in the game, which may become nauseating during extended play. The intense motion would require nothing short of a strong stomach to enjoy a VR version fully.
This news is especially disappointing for players, especially after a few files were added to the game pertaining to Oculus in August 2022. It fuelled a concrete, evidence-based speculation about the game coming to VR one day. A popular theory expected the game to accompany the launch of Playstation VR 2 and Meta Quest Pro.
While the news may seem doom and gloom, battle royale games are no stranger to the medium of VR. Population One, a game quite similar to Fortnite, is available on VR which helps strengthen the case for a potential Fortnite VR version. Hence, only time will tell if there is a future that holds the possibility of the acclaimed multiplayer game on VR.
Conclusion
And that concludes this guide on playing Fortnite on the Oculus Quest 2. The process is straightforward and can be completed in mere minutes, allowing you to get back into the fray quickly.
At the end of the day, with what we have currently, it’s only possible to run Fortnite in VR through third-party means. And though it’s not equivalent to true VR games, it is worth experiencing the game this way.