Meta Quest 3 Is Now Used On Steam As Much As Valve Index

Meta Quest 3, the latest standalone VR headset from Meta (formerly known as Facebook), has been making waves in the virtual reality community. According to data from the Steam Hardware & Software Survey, Quest 3 was used for SteamVR almost as much as the Valve Index in April. Let’s dive into the details:

Quest 3’s Rise on Steam

• Quest 3 launched in mid-October and quickly gained traction on Steam. By November, it was already the 5th most used headset on the platform. In December, it surpassed the HTC Vive to become the 4th most used headset, and in January, it overtook the Oculus Rift S to claim the 3rd spot.
• The usage growth velocity of Quest 3 on Steam has slowed down since February, but it has continued to progress. As of April, it’s within 0.43% of Valve Index usage. This suggests that Quest 3 could potentially surpass the Index sometime in the summer or later in the year as upcoming exclusives draw more Quest 3 buyers.

Valve Index’s Longevity

• The Valve Index, despite being nearly five years old, remains the second most used headset on Steam. Its retention is remarkable, considering its lower resolution compared to modern headsets. This speaks to both the quality of the hardware and Valve’s brand loyalty.
• Back in mid-2019, the Oculus Rift S launched at less than half the price of the Index and initially had higher usage on SteamVR. However, by late 2021, the Index had surpassed it and now boasts around double the usage.
• While many Rift S owners likely upgraded to the Quest 2 or Quest 3, Index owners held out. Some may have been waiting for a new headset from Valve or a spiritual successor from another company that supports their SteamVR base stations. Now, it seems that some Index owners are finally upgrading to the Quest 3.

Overall VR Adoption

• The overall percentage of Steam users with VR headsets increased from 1.82% to 1.92%. PC VR continues to grow steadily, even excluding Chinese language users.

In summary, the Meta Quest 3’s rise on Steam has been impressive, and it’s closing in on the Valve Index. As the VR landscape continues to evolve, we’ll keep an eye on these trends and see how the battle between these two headsets unfolds.