Free ‘GTA’ Mod Revives ‘San Andreas’

Many fans of Rockstar’s iconic games have long yearned for proper virtual reality experiences, but until now, they’ve been mostly left wanting. Fortunately, for PC gamers eager to dive back into Los Santos, modder ‘Holydh’ has crafted a solution. He’s introduced an ingenious modification known as the UEVR plugin for the PC version of GTA: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition (2021), finally bridging the gap between this updated classic from 2004 and PC VR systems.

Titled the ‘GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition – 6DoF UEVR Plugin,’ this mod offers a full first-person VR experience paired with 6DOF (six degrees of freedom) motion controls for the game’s Steam version. However, for those hoping to use the Epic Games Store or Rockstar launcher versions, there’s a catch—it only tunes with the Steam variant.

The base of this innovative mod is the Unreal Engine VR (UEVR) plugin designed by ‘praydog’. Yet, what makes Holydh’s development stand out is the assortment of new features it packs, which are absent from UEVR on its own. For instance, without Holydh’s plugin, the game’s camera tends to auto-follow CJ’s moves, which might not suit the immersive VR experience desired.

This mod covers all bases: every movement on foot (even crouching), handling any vehicle (including everyone’s favorite, the jetpack), and various tweaks for camera comfort. It smartly manages UEVR camera settings during cutscenes and even supports motion-controlled weapons. Sniper scopes function perfectly too, making it possible to journey through the game entirely in VR without missing a beat.

If you’re curious to see this mod in action, take a peek at a demonstration by Holydh—it’s something every VR enthusiast should witness.

Interested in getting your hands on Holydh’s mod? You can download it for free from Nexus Mods. The process is straightforward, although it does require owning the Steam version of the game and downloading Praydog’s UEVR Nightly 01042 build, conveniently linked on the Nexus Mods site.

For those concerned about PC requirements, feedback from users suggests that an NVIDIA RTX 2080 or equivalent should run the mod smoothly. Plus, there are adjustable graphical settings available for those operating on older hardware.

While the project is open-source and available on GitHub for modifications, there’s a shadow of caution stemming from Rockstar Games’ parent company, Take-Two. Known for being quite aggressive when it comes to unauthorized mods, they’ve been involved in several takedowns, like those directed at Luke Ross’s popular VR mods for GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Mafia Definitive Edition.

To clarify, the takedown notices weren’t aimed directly at Ross but at Patreon, where he offered early access to his mods behind a paywall. However, UEVR and Holydh’s plugins sidestep this issue by remaining free, which might just make them a safe bet for enjoying GTA: San Andreas in VR long term on PC.

In a separate bit of news, the GTA: San Andreas release for Quest has been postponed indefinitely, so any hope for an official standalone VR version seems off the cards for now.