Free ‘GTA’ Mod Transports You Back to ‘San Andreas’

Rockstar has a treasure trove of fan-favorite games, but many haven’t seen proper VR integration. Enter modder ‘Holydh’, who has stepped up to the plate with a nifty solution. He’s rolled out a tweaked version of the UEVR plugin tailored for the PC edition of GTA: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition (2021), allowing virtual reality enthusiasts to jump into the 2004 classic on their VR headsets.

Known as the ‘GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition – 6DoF UEVR Plugin’, this mod opens up a fully immersive first-person VR experience with 6DOF motion inputs for the Steam version. A heads-up: if you’re using the Epic Games Store or Rockstar launcher versions, you’re out of luck as this mod doesn’t support them.

The brains behind this achievement is the groundwork laid by ‘praydog’, with their Unreal Engine VR (UEVR) plugin serving as the foundation. Holydh’s version adds some flair not present in UEVR alone. In the game, without Holydh’s touch, the camera tends to swivel automatically to track CJ’s actions. Now, you’ve got all kinds of footwork covered (crouching included), the thrill of driving every sort of vehicle—even that iconic jetpack—plus various tweaks for camera comfort. It auto-adjusts UEVR camera settings during cutscenes and supports motion controller-operated weapons. Sniper enthusiasts, you’re in luck, as scopes are functional too, giving you the VR experience from start to end.

Want to see it in action? Holydh has provided some sweet footage to showcase all this.

If you’re eager to dive in, Holydh’s creation is available at Nexus Mods, and it’s free! Just a heads up, you’ll need a Steam copy and Praydog’s UEVR Nightly 01042 build, which is conveniently linked on the Nexus Mods page.

What about your gaming rig? Well, it’s been reported that users with NVIDIA RTX 2080s find it runs smoothly, though there are various graphical settings to fiddle with if your GPU is on the older side.

It’s worth noting this project is open-source, and accessible on GitHub for anyone looking to tinker. However, you might want to stay on your toes, as Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two, has been known to clamp down on similar mods with legal action. In 2022, they pulled a slew of popular Rockstar mods by Luke Ross, targeting VR mods for titles like GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Mafia Definitive Edition. Interestingly, those takedowns didn’t directly hit Ross but went after Patreon, since he had the mods available behind paid access. Fortunately, Holydh’s mod is free, making it a solid bet for anyone wanting to savor GTA: San Andreas in VR for the long run.

In other news, if you’re waiting for GTA: San Andreas to land officially on Quest, keep those hopes in check—its release has been pushed back indefinitely.