An enthusiastic team of modders has successfully transformed the legendary World of Warcraft into an immersive virtual reality experience. Known as WoVR, this VR mod for World of Warcraft is now accessible for free download.
The masterminds behind this project hail from Flatscreen 2 VR, a renowned modding community recognized for their VR adaptations of popular games like Resident Evil 4, Amnesia, Crysis, and Portal 2.
Dive into Azeroth Like Never Before with WoVR
WoVR introduces a groundbreaking way to experience Blizzard's iconic MMORPG in virtual reality. This mod is tailored for version 3.3.5a of the game, the original release from June 2010, rather than the contemporary live server edition of World of Warcraft Classic. The 3.3.5a version encompasses the first two expansions of the MMORPG, The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King.
Beyond just enabling gameplay on modern VR headsets, WoVR incorporates comprehensive 6DOF tracking support. With 'six degrees of freedom' tracking, the mod accurately captures both the headset's position and orientation in a three-dimensional space, ensuring seamless translation of head movements into in-game camera actions. The initial release mandates the use of VR controllers and does not support traditional mouse and keyboard play. However, Flatscreen 2 VR has hinted at potential future enhancements based on user feedback.
While there are no immediate plans for further development, the modding community invested nearly a decade in bringing WoVR to fruition. Originally conceived as a mod for the Oculus Rift DK1 in 2013, the project underwent sporadic progress and a four-year hiatus before resuming in January 2024. The 1.0 version of WoVR now offers both first- and third-person gameplay options and features a floating UI with occlusion, allowing interface elements to hide behind in-game objects.
This isn't the first foray into MMORPG VR adaptations for the dedicated Flatscreen 2 VR team. In late 2022, they unveiled a similar VR mod for Final Fantasy 14. To access WoVR and other Flat2VR mods, interested players can refer to the group's Discord server for download and installation instructions.