This data is derived from the
which Steam offers to a randomly selected sample each month. If you accept, it uploads a list of your PC specs and peripherals to Valve, as well as any headset used on SteamVR in the past month.
While Quest 3 is a standalone headset, it can also act as a PC VR headset via USB cable with the built-in Quest Link feature, or wirelessly via Wi-Fi with the built-in Air Link, Valve’s official Steam Hardware & Software Survey, or Guy Godin’s $20 Virtual Desktop.
Quest 3 launched in mid-October. It was the fifth most popular headset by Steam Link Quest app, it overtook the HTC Vive and became the fourth, it also surpassed Oculus Rift S as the third. It’s now within 0.43% (April) of Valve Index. The overall Steam user base with VR headsets has increased by 1.92% from 1.82%. Filtering out Chinese language users, PC VR continues to
.November’s dataIndex Has Had A Long Life, But Is Now On The Declinein December will soon be five years old, yet is still sold at $1000 for the full kit. It’s remarkable that it is still the 2nd most popular headset on Steam, despite having a lower resolution than modern headsets. This level of retention is a testament to both the quality of the hardware and to Valve’s brand loyalty.in JanuaryOculus Rift S launched within a month of Index back in mid-2019 at less than half the price and had significantly higher usage on SteamVR for the first few years. By late 2021 Index was able to surpass it, and has today around twice the amount of usage. Many Rift S owners likely upgraded to Quest 2 or Quest 3, while some others may have stopped using VR altogether.
Index owners on the other hand mostly held out, with many likely waiting for a new headset from Valve or a spiritual successor from another company that supports their SteamVR base stations. Some users are now upgrading to Meta Quest 3 if they haven’t already. Quest 3 is now 15% of Steam VR users, despite the fact that Steam’s overall headset usage has barely increased. It’s clear that many of these Quest 3 users are upgrading, not new PC VR users, and Index is one of the headsets they’re upgrading from.upcoming exclusivesValve Index
Quest 3slowly but steadily growPrice
$1000
Valve Index$500
Wired PC VR
Native
(DisplayPort)
| Compressed | (USB) | |
| Wireless PC VR | w/ $450 sold out | Wi-Fi 6E |
| built-in | Lenses Fresnel |
Pancake Displays |
| 1440×1600 LCDs | (up to 144Hz) third-party adapter |
2064×2208 LCDs (up to 120Hz) |
| Audio | Off-ear BMRs | (high quality) |
| In-strap speakers | (low-mid quality) Tracking |
Base stations Inside-out SLAM |
| Hand Tracking | Body Tracking w/ Vive Trackers |
|
| ($400+) | Upper body | ( |
| ) | For half the price, Quest 3 offers sharper pancake lenses, twice the number of pixels, and built-in Wi-Fi 6E and upper-body tracking. Index has much higher quality built-in audio thanks to its off-ear BMRs, but for some owners this won’t make up for its outdated lenses and displays. | Valve has |
| on multiple occasions throughout the years that it’s working on a new headset, but hasn’t yet formally announced or teased a specific product. Index owners are hoping for a hint, at least, about what is next as Index celebrates its five-year milestone in two months. Will they see one? Or will Valve be happy with the | and give up on hardware VR in favor of Meta’s now that it has been released? |