Quest 3 Now Used On Steam As Much As Valve Index As Some Owners Upgrade

Meta Quest 3 was used for SteamVR virtually as a lot as Valve Index in April.

This knowledge comes from the Steam {Hardware} & Software program Survey, which is obtainable to a random pattern of Steam’s consumer base every month. In case you settle for, it uploads an inventory of your PC specs and peripherals to Valve, in addition to any headset used on SteamVR prior to now month.

Whereas Quest 3 is a standalone headset, it could additionally act as a PC VR headset by way of USB cable with the built-in Quest Hyperlink characteristic, or wirelessly by way of Wi-Fi with the built-in Air Hyperlink, Valve’s official Steam Hyperlink Quest app, or Man Godin’s $20 Digital Desktop.

Quest 3 launched in mid-October. By November’s knowledge it was already the fifth most used headset on Steam, in December it surpassed the HTC Vive to turn into the 4th, and in January it surpassed Oculus Rift S to turn into the third.

The utilization development velocity of Quest 3 on Steam has slowed down considerably since February, however has nonetheless continued to progress. Now in April, it is inside 0.43% of Valve Index. That implies it may surpass Index a while in the summertime, or not less than later within the 12 months as upcoming exclusives draw extra Quest 3 consumers.

The general share of Steam customers with VR headsets elevated from 1.82% to 1.92%. Filtering out Chinese language language customers, PC VR continues to slowly however steadily develop.

Index Has Had A Lengthy Life, However Is Now On The Decline

Valve Index will quickly be 5 years previous, but remains to be offered at $1000 for the complete package. That it is nonetheless the second most used headset on Steam regardless of its low decision in comparison with fashionable headsets is exceptional. This stage of retention is a testomony to each the standard of the {hardware} and to Valve’s model loyalty.

Oculus Rift S launched inside a month of Index again in mid-2019 at lower than half the value and had considerably increased utilization on SteamVR for the primary few years. However by late 2021 Index had surpassed it and as we speak has round double the utilization. Many Rift S house owners possible upgraded to Quest 2 or Quest 3, whereas some others could have stopped utilizing VR altogether.

Index house owners then again largely held out, with many possible ready for a brand new headset from Valve or a religious successor from one other firm that helps their SteamVR base stations. Absent both although, some seem to now be lastly upgrading – to Meta’s Quest 3.

Index utilization peaked at round 21% of SteamVR customers simply earlier than Quest 3 launched, but is now utilized by round 16%. In that very same time the general share of Steam customers with a VR headset solely barely elevated, but Quest 3 has jumped to fifteen%. It is clear that many of those Quest 3 customers are upgrading, not new PC VR customers, and Index is likely one of the headsets they’re upgrading from.

For half the value, Quest 3 provides sharper pancake lenses, twice the variety of pixels, and built-in Wi-Fi 6E and upper-body monitoring. Index has a lot increased high quality built-in audio due to its off-ear BMRs, however for some house owners this would possibly not make up for its outdated lenses and shows.

Some can have additionally upgraded to Bigscreen Past, although far fewer, given Past was solely utilized by 0.27% of SteamVR customers in April.

Valve has instantly confirmed on a number of events all through the years that it is engaged on a brand new headset, however hasn’t but formally introduced or teased a selected product. With Index’s five-year anniversary arriving in lower than two months many homeowners can be hoping to see a tease, on the very least, of what is subsequent. However will they get one, or with Steam Hyperlink is Valve now completely happy to cede the {hardware} aspect of VR to Meta and its Horizon OS companions?