To access the Oculus-VR fork of Unreal Engine, ensure you have a verified Meta Developer Account. Your Epic Games and GitHub accounts must also be linked. For detailed guidance and hardware requirements, see Prerequisites for installing Unreal Engine.

Oculus Quest development in Unreal Engine is supported through three major branches:

UE 5.0+, built from Meta’s Oculus-VR fork of Epic Games’ UE 5.0+

UE 5.0+, installed from Epic Games, plus the Meta XR plugin

UE 4.27, built from Meta’s Oculus-VR fork of Epic Games’ UE 4.27

To choose the right branch, consider the following:

UE 5.0+	UE 4.27
Recommended. It includes the latest features and bug fixes. Use this if your codebase can upgrade to UE5 without major issues.	This version has been around for longer, offering more plugins and public resources. It may be necessary if you have a legacy codebase in UE4 or need plugins not yet supporting UE 5.0+

UE built from Meta’s Oculus-VR fork	UE installed from Epic Games
Recommended for all Meta Quest development in Unreal. Required for certain Meta Quest features: see Choosing UE Installation by Feature Compatibility.	May be necessary for multi-platform releases, such as simultaneous releases on Meta Quest and non-VR platforms.

Note: All supported Unreal Engine branches can create applications for all Meta Quest headset generations.

Note: Previously, UE 4.27, installed from Epic Games, was supported via the Oculus-VR plugin for UE. That plugin is now deprecated, and changes to support Oculus development in UE 4.27 are only available via the Oculus-VR fork of UE 4.27.

Changes in Meta’s fork of UE

Since Epic Games’ Unreal Engine provides source code access, and Meta’s Oculus-VR fork provides source code access, it is possible to review every changed line of code in Meta’s fork of UE.

GitHub Compare: Oculus-VR/UnrealEngine, 4.27 branch

GitHub Compare: Oculus-VR/UnrealEngine, 5.4 branch

However, this examination may be too granular for most. The most important changes in Meta’s Oculus-VR fork are listed below:

Support for certain Meta Quest features, such as Application SpaceWarp. See Choosing UE Installation by Feature Compatibility for a complete compatibility matrix.

Meta Quest-specific improvements to rendering and performance. See Oculus-VR Fork Game Engine Performance Enhancement for a complete list.

Engine integration of Meta XR features, which removes the requirement to install Unreal Engine’s Meta XR Plugin.

Installing UE 5.0+, Meta’s fork

This installation includes Unreal Engine 5.0+, the Meta XR plugin, and additional features and fixes that make UE work seamlessly with Meta Horizon OS. It’s recommended to use this installation for the latest support with Meta Quest features and improvements.

Note: It is not necessary to install the Meta XR plugin separately when installing Meta’s fork of UE 5.0+.

In the Oculus-VR fork of Unreal Engine on GitHub, open the branch list, and then select the Tags tab. Note: Remember that to access the Oculus-VR fork of the source code, you need a verified Meta Developer Account, as well as Epic Games and GitHub accounts that are linked. For more information, see Prerequisites for installing Unreal Engine.

From the list, select the UE version you want. The first version number in the tag name (that is 5.4.3) corresponds to Unreal Engine version, and the last version number (that is v69.1) corresponds to Oculus Platform SDK version. Note: It’s recommended to choose the latest version for the newest features and bug fixes.

Screenshot of Tags list in the Oculus-VR fork

Click Code, and then click Download ZIP to download the files. Note: If you prefer, follow the instructions under “Getting Up and Running” in the README to clone your own private fork and then compile and run the UE editor.

Unzip the folder to the preferred location on your development machine.

Important: To avoid potential errors when building, be aware that exceeding the Windows maximum path length will fail your build. If you’re concerned, don’t map to a network share. This will slow down the build process significantly. Instead, create a junction point for the directory.

Installing UE 5.0+ from Epic Games

Install UE 5.0+ directly from Epic Games using the Epic Games Launcher. You’ll need to install the Meta XR plugin separately. This means you’ll miss additional features and fixes in the fork. For more information, see Installing the Meta XR Plugin.

Install the Epic Games Launcher

Go to the Download Unreal Engine page and then click Download Launcher.

Complete Step 2: Install Epic Games Launcher on the same page.

Install the release version of UE 5.0+ from Epic

Open the Epic Games Launcher and log in.

On the Library tab, click the + next to Engine Versions.

Screenshot of the Library tab of the Epic Games Launcher.

In the Install box, select the version you want to install.

Click Install. Optionally, click Browse to change the install location or Options to select specific features.

Click Install.

If necessary, click Yes to allow the launcher to install Unreal Engine.

Install the Meta XR plugin

To install the Meta XR plugin, follow the instructions on Installing the Meta XR plugin.

Installing UE 4.27, Meta’s fork

This installation includes Unreal Engine 4.27, the Meta XR plugin, and additional features and fixes that make UE work seamlessly with Meta Horizon OS.

Note: Previously, installs of UE 4.27 from the Epic Games Launcher were supported via the Oculus-VR plugin for UE. That plugin is now deprecated, and changes to support Oculus development in UE 4.27 are only available via the Oculus-VR fork of UE 4.27. It is not necessary to install the plugin separately when installing Meta’s fork of UE 4.27.

In the Oculus-VR fork of Unreal Engine on GitHub, open the branch list, and then select the Tags tab. Note: To access the Oculus-VR fork of Unreal Engine, ensure you have a verified Meta Developer Account. Your Epic Games and GitHub accounts must also be linked. For more information, see Prerequisites for installing Unreal Engine.

In the Tags list, search for 4.27 (or scroll down to 4.27 releases), and select a version. The first version number in the tag name (that is 4.27.2) corresponds to Unreal Engine version, and the last version number (that is v62.0) corresponds to Oculus Platform SDK version. It’s recommended to use the highest, most-recent version.

Click Code, and then click Download ZIP to download the files. Note: If you prefer, follow the instructions under Getting Up and Running in the repository’s README file to clone your own private fork and then compile and run the UE editor.

Unzip the folder to the preferred location on your development machine.