diff --git a/openrct2.proj b/openrct2.proj
index 8917009a18..a10de00194 100644
--- a/openrct2.proj
+++ b/openrct2.proj
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@
     <LibsUrl>https://github.com/OpenRCT2/Dependencies/releases/download/v$(TargetLibsVersion)/openrct2-libs-vs2015.zip</LibsUrl>
     <LibsPath>$(RootDir)lib\</LibsPath>
     <LibsVersionPath>$(LibsPath)libversion</LibsVersionPath>
+    <GtestVersion>1.8.0</GtestVersion>
+    <GtestUrl>https://github.com/google/googletest/archive/release-$(GtestVersion).zip</GtestUrl>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
@@ -122,6 +124,7 @@
   <Target Name="DownloadLibs">
     <PropertyGroup>
       <LibsZipPath>$(LibsPath)openrct2-libs-vs2015.zip</LibsZipPath>
+      <GtestZipPath>$(LibsPath)gtest.zip</GtestZipPath>
     </PropertyGroup>
 
     <!-- Clean libs directory -->
@@ -129,10 +132,18 @@
     <MakeDir Directories="$(LibsPath)" />
 
     <Message Text="Downloading libraries..." Importance="normal" />
+    <!-- prebuilt libs -->
     <Exec Command="powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command &quot;Invoke-WebRequest '$(LibsUrl)' -OutFile '$(LibsZipPath)'&quot;" StandardOutputImportance="low" />
     <Unzip Input="$(LibsZipPath)" OutputDirectory="$(LibsPath)" />
     <Delete Files="$(LibsZipPath)" ContinueOnError="true" />
 
+    <!-- googletest -->
+    <Message Text="Downloading googletest..." Importance="normal" />
+    <Exec Command="powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command &quot;Invoke-WebRequest '$(GtestUrl)' -OutFile '$(GtestZipPath)'&quot;" StandardOutputImportance="low" />
+    <Unzip Input="$(GtestZipPath)" OutputDirectory="$(LibsPath)" />
+    <Delete Files="$(GtestZipPath)" ContinueOnError="true" />
+    <Exec Command="cmd /c move &quot;$(LibsPath)googletest-release-$(GtestVersion)&quot; &quot;$(LibsPath)googletest&quot;" />
+
     <!-- Update libversion file -->
     <WriteLinesToFile Lines="$(TargetLibsVersion)" File="$(LibsVersionPath)" Overwrite="true" />
   </Target>
diff --git a/test/tests/tests.vcxproj b/test/tests/tests.vcxproj
index 683615e359..3e42ab8e4a 100644
--- a/test/tests/tests.vcxproj
+++ b/test/tests/tests.vcxproj
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 <Project DefaultTargets="Build" ToolsVersion="14.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
   <PropertyGroup>
     <SolutionDir Condition="'$(SolutionDir)'==''">..\..\</SolutionDir>
+    <GtestDir Condition="'$(GtestDir)'==''">$(SolutionDir)lib\googletest\googletest</GtestDir>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup Label="ProjectConfigurations">
     <ProjectConfiguration Include="DebugTests|Win32">
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@
   <Import Project="..\..\openrct2.common.props" />
   <PropertyGroup>
     <OutDir>$(SolutionDir)bin\tests\</OutDir>
-    <IncludePath>$(GTestDir)\googletest;$(GTestDir)\googletest\include;$(SolutionDir)src;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>$(GtestDir);$(GtestDir)\include;$(SolutionDir)src;$(IncludePath)</IncludePath>
     <LibraryPath>$(SolutionDir)bin;$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemDefinitionGroup>
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <ClCompile Include="LanguagePackTest.cpp" />
     <ClCompile Include="sawyercoding_test.cpp" />
-    <ClCompile Include="$(GTestDir)\googletest\src\gtest-all.cc" />
+    <ClCompile Include="$(GtestDir)\src\gtest-all.cc" />
     <ClCompile Include="tests.cpp" />
   </ItemGroup>