This upcoming Breath of the Wild VR mod looks great in 4K early test video

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A group of modders is working on a Breath of the Wild VR mod that would let you play the game in 4K using a high-end PC VR headset. You can check out what the modders are calling a “proof of concept” above, but don’t expect a general release for some time as the project is still in the very early pre-alpha stages.

If you’ve ever dreamed of visiting Breath of the Wild’s breathtaking cel-shaded Hyrule in VR, you’ve no doubt found yourself peering into Nintendo’s cardboard Labo VR, arms trembling as you hold the one-pound contraption to your face and futilely blink away the blurriness. Playing Breath of the Wild VR using Nintendo Labo was a fun little novelty in 2019, but today there’s a lot of demand for a higher-quality, hands-free version.

Thankfully, a group made up of modders Brian Tate (opens in new tab), Sebastián Aedo (opens in new tab), and MelonSpeedruns (opens in new tab) is working on a Breath of the Wild VR mod that would let you play an upscaled version of the game on a PC VR headset. The mod uses the popular Wii U emulator Cemu to bring Breath of the Wild to PC and inject code for the VR experience.

“Today, we tested Zelda: BOTW running at 4k in full native VR!” reads an announcement (opens in new tab) from the mod’s official Discord. Over in the General (opens in new tab) tab, the developers are pretty actively answering questions about all things relating to the mod, so don’t be shy about anything you’re curious about. That said, it’s always best to have a scan through the existing channels to see if your question’s been answered.

So BOTW VR for Cemu may or may not become a reality thanks to all the supporters of the freecam & redditors (Special thanks to @elliotttate1 & /u/zipzapbloop for helping me on affording the headset!) pic.twitter.com/PGhCDW1NI4March 19, 2021

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As spotted by UploadVR (opens in new tab), the developers told their Discord community that it could take anywhere from a month to a full year for a public release. The mod will include both first-person and third-person options, and things like resolution and framerate will depend on the rig you’re using.

Since the Cemu emulator itself is a fairly tasking software, running the Breath of the Wild VR mod will demand at least a decent mid-range gaming PC, and you’ll want something even beefier if you want to run it in 4K at acceptable framerates. Still, it’s a small price to pay to visit an already gorgeous world, retextured to look even better in VR. Once again though, keep in mind this is essentially a concept preview of the full release, so don’t hold your breath (no pun intended).

Until we get Breath of the Wild VR, here are some great games like Zelda we recommend checking out.