Oculus Rift headsets hit with ‘runtime service’ error

An expired software certificate has caused every Oculus Rift in the world to malfunction. The Facebook subsidiary has confirmed the problem, and it says it is working on a fix.

Most people are encountering an error that says the Oculus software “can’t reach Oculus runtime service.” This is due an expired security certificate on Windows. Essentially, Microsoft checks software to ensure it is signed by the vendor when it goes to read data from other files to prevent hackers from stealing your personal information. But vendors have to work with Microsoft to keep that signature up-to-date. Oculus has seemingly let its certificate authentication lapse.