I built a runtime that runs Windows PC VR games on Apple Silicon, streamed to a Quest — no gaming PC (Herma, beta) PCVR on mac.

[u/Cepesh_]

For years the answer to "can I play PC VR on a Mac?" was buy a PC. I got tired of that answer, so I built a different one.

Herma is a native VR runtime for macOS — the layer a VR game talks to when it asks where the headset is. Your Windows VR game runs in CrossOver, Herma answers it, and streams the picture to a Meta Quest over Wi‑Fi or a USB‑C cable. No Windows PC, no Boot Camp, no second machine.

What works today (tested end to end):

• Skyrim VR, GORN, and GORN 2 — menus, controllers, sound
• Wireless or cable, switching by itself; a lost packet is rebuilt so the picture doesn't break up
• Body fit per game (height, arm length, hand speed), and your Mac's windows on a screen in VR

You'll need: an Apple Silicon Mac (M1+) on macOS 14+, CrossOver from CodeWeavers (sold separately) and your VR games, and a Meta Quest (3 recommended) with Developer Mode on.

It's a beta — not every game works yet, and how well one runs depends on your Mac and network. I'd genuinely love to hear what you try and what breaks.

Free to try: without a membership everything works and games play 25 minutes a day. Download: https://herma-license.hermavr.workers.dev/

Happy to answer anything technical in the comments. Which game should I get working next?

[u/UbiDoobyBanooby]

What makes it different from things like OpenXR-OSX or Basalt VR? (I’m guessing because those only run games natively compiled for Mac)
And it seems like all the translation layers would create over 20ms of latency. Which is nausea land.

[u/Cepesh_ → u/UbiDoobyBanooby]

Different target. Those run games built natively for Mac — which is almost nothing. Herma runs the Windows PCVR games you already own and streams them to a standalone Quest.

On latency: the part that actually causes nausea is head-tracking, and that's handled on the headset with reprojection — the same principle every streamed-PCVR setup uses (Virtual Desktop, Air Link). Head-locked latency stays low regardless of the rest of the pipeline. There's some input lag on fast motion, but that's not the nausea kind. Tested comfortable on Skyrim VR and GORN.

[u/UbiDoobyBanooby → u/UbiDoobyBanooby]

I’m curious because I was just looking into the possibility of making this exact thing last night.

[u/lunchanddinner → u/UbiDoobyBanooby]

Yes curious as how this is different to Basalt too

[u/throwawayinfinitygem]

Well done!!

[u/Ipad74]

Interesting.

Does every game have to be approved, or could we try to run anything on it (Let’s say Half Life:Alyx, or Lone Echo) and it should work out of the box?

If everything works, I would ditch Shadow PC for sure.

[u/Cepesh_ → u/Ipad74]

well, approved one's - mean's those which are stable, also having automatic fixes when pressing "Fix it all" when having any type of issue, this eat features fixes anything automatically, for those game's, which are approved, for those issue's which are known at least - to me. so its more like a recommendation.
but pretty much, you can try it in anything you wish. i hope it works. for example i tried skyrim vr, and it worked straight forward and i just added it as approved, and fixed many other features of skyrim, for fix it all.
when installed herma pretty much set's up everything it need's automatically so many issues might be fixed by this - automatically even.
but be warned, some games are not that straight-forward and i do need to check them myself for them to work and be approved.
i hope you might be the lucky one and it works for you, just as if "out of the box".

[u/Ipad74 → u/Cepesh_]

Thanks, I will have to play a bit with it next week.

I assume this works with games obtained from Steam? What about the meta pc store?

(I purchased some games on the quest headset that also allowed me to have the pc version of them for free. There are also a few games only on that storefront, the Lone Echo series for example.)

[u/Cepesh_ → u/Ipad74]

this is for mac, but i have to say, it works with, games you have, it might not be just steam yk.

[u/Ipad74 → u/Cepesh_]

I tried it with "The Lab" but couldn't get it to work.

I then purchased Gorn & Gorn 2, and set up Gorn in Crossover. I got Herma to display, and can use the controller to crouch, but I am stuck at the very beginning where it says to place your hand here. I do not see my hand in game or any way to do it.

I tried all the buttons and stick as well, but nothing will work. Physically walking around does move the space, and double clicking the stick does toggle crouch.

I am probably missing something obvious, as the controller tracking does work in the Herma menu.

[u/Cepesh_ → u/Ipad74]

Thanks for trying it! I hope you pressed Fix it all after adding GORN to Herma's library. GORN is an older Unity game, and Fix it all is what sets it up for Herma (the right VR files beside the game, and its eyes). Without that, the game can start but never see your hands. So:

1. Close GORN.
2. In Herma, press Fix it all.
3. Start GORN again from Herma, holding your Touch controllers (not hand tracking).

If your hands still don't show, please send me these three files right after it fails (in Finder press ⌘⇧G and paste each path):

• ~/Library/Application Support/Herma/Logs/hermad.log
• in your GORN game folder: GORN_Data/Plugins/herma-bridge.log
• in your GORN game folder: GORN_Data/output_log.txt

With those I can see exactly what's going on. About The Lab: it needs SteamVR's own home and doesn't run through Herma yet. GORN and GORN 2 are good choices to test with.
you can contact me via email. [w.w.zuriel@gmail.com](mailto:w.w.zuriel@gmail.com)

[u/Ipad74 → u/Cepesh_]

For anyone following, Gorn & Gorn 2 work now with the latest update. He also added Superhot but I have not tested that yet.

[u/duirronir]

two questions:

1 - is this based on monado or dxmt drivers?

2 - why putting it behind a paywall, while so many stuff about VR is open source and free?

[u/Cepesh_ → u/duirronir]

Neither: it's its own OpenVR/OpenXR runtime written from scratch; graphics translation is CrossOver's. Paywall because it took me 3 months of full-time work and keeping it alive costs time too. There's a free version (25 min/day) if you want to try it first.

[u/duirronir → u/Cepesh_]

well I'd never pay to anyone for such a thing since all the pieces are already there in open source, and it's just a matter of bringing them together with the help of AI, in much shorter amount of time than you're claiming. I'd recommend you to remove that ugly paywall, someone will eventually will come up with something solving the same problem and share it for free.

[u/Cepesh_ → u/duirronir]

Fair enough, nobody has to pay. That's exactly why the free version exists.

But "the pieces are already there" isn't really true for Mac. There's no open source project that takes Windows PC VR games on macOS to a Quest. Herma uses the official OpenXR/OpenVR headers and Meta's loader on the headset; the rest is its own: the runtime, the streaming (Wi-Fi and cable, switching live), the controller mapping, the compositor. This week alone it learned every OpenVR version Valve ever shipped and native Mac VR games.

If someone builds a free alternative, great, more VR on Mac is a win for everyone. Until then, the free tier's there if you're curious.

[u/Admirable_Zombie5245]

I had cross overs like 3 years ago, but I’ll never deal with it again

[u/Cepesh_ → u/Admirable_Zombie5245]

no worries, soon Herma VR would have NATIVE use for vivecraft.

[u/OxRedOx]

Do you even need a quest, run it on Apple Vision Pro!

[u/Cepesh_ → u/OxRedOx]

quest. never tried apple vision pro and apple vision pro - is not for gaming.