According to Valve’s February Steam hardware and software survey, the Oculus Rift is now the most used VR headset on the Steam platform, taking the market share of VR headsets on Steam with a near 2% lead over its competitor HTC Vive. This is the first time Rift has surpassed Vive in Valve’s monthly survey.

Each month, Valve runs the survey among Steam users to determine some baseline statistics about what kind of hardware and software is used by the user population, and to see how things are changing over time; that includes which VR headsets are connected to users’ computers. Participation in the survey is optional.

The latest results for the month of February show the Vive losing 1.58% marketshare since January’s survey, which, combined with Rift’s gain of 1.22%, shows Oculus’ headset taking majority hold on the platform.

image courtesy Valve

While Steam acts as the de facto content store for HTC Vive users, it also supports Rift too, meaning anyone with either headset can simply download any of the VR games there. Rifters however have access to their own exclusive content store, meaning some users can choose not to buy or connect via Steam, instead only downloading content from the Oculus Store.

Exactly how many Rift users use Steam among the total population of Rift users is unknown, making it largely futile to extrapolate the data in an effort to determine headset market share across all platforms. Some analyst estimates put the Vive ahead of the Rift in total sales, though in the consumer space, Oculus’ aggressive price cutting has allowed the headset to gain significant ground over the course of the last few months.

Without complete data, it’s impossible to say exactly why one headset is more popular than the other, although we stipulate one important reason; price. An entire Oculus Rift setup, including Touch controllers, only costs $400, while its contemporary HTC Vive still costs $600.

SEE ALSO
HTC Cuts Vive XR Elite Price in More Regions Ahead of New Headset Reveal

Outside of the what appears to be a two-sided battle, there’s still a contingent of Oculus DK2 owners still playing through Steam. The DK2, which launched in 2014, still holds 1.95% of the total share of VR headsets in use on Steam, a slight uptick from January’s reported 1.78%.

Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets, despite being offered by several established manufacturers ranging from $250 to $450, have only increased by 0.19% reported usage since January’s survey.

The latest figures report a 0.02% increase in overall VR headset use when compared to the entire Steam population.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Jonathan

    If there was a way to have more than one headset plugged in to the computer at the same time, I suspect the numbers would be different.

    • DanDei

      How so?

      • I assume he means people who own both but then again, they are using the Rift more so its moot anyway

    • Morfium

      I don’t think it’s a snapshot of a moment. Steam probably knows what headset you used within the last month and people having both would count as having both in this.
      And although I never tried…
      What would stop you from plugging in both?
      I have a Vive + 5 slots for monitors. I could plug another headset in instead of a monitor can’t I?

      • Les Vega

        in a prior month we saw the rift take “most popular” while the percent of users was in Vive’s favor that meant more games were being played with rift headsets despite having more vives connected so people with both were using their rifts instead.

  • Raphael

    HTC needs to fight back with a “Super Pro Vive” at the 1800 price range.

    • johngrimoldy

      Hahaha! Brilliant! The competitors would never see that coming!

      • Raphael

        OctopusVR would be shocked. I think HTC needs to focus on the ultra-professional pro-sumer market. Regular pro is too low.

    • Lucidfeuer

      With a 3.2k resolution and 113° FOV for “best in class specs”, a horn-shaped antenna for better tracking, a backpack battery add-on, in a beautiful all new purple and green finish.

      • Raphael

        Let’s not forget new design low-ring density fresnel for improved glow FX. Should also have low-res cams for AR.

        • Laurence Nairne

          Only available on Viveport.

          • And a design that has caused many a postman to run screaming from a property screaming “Aliens!!! There be ALIENS IN THAT HOUSE!”

            And lets not forget poor little Jimbob across the street wished he had never got that telescope for Christmas because his road has aliens living on it.

        • Stephanie

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        • Vivien

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    • Ahahahah. Anyway, if they decide to lower the price of the standard Vive because they have an upper class device of the market, their choice may have sense

      • Raphael

        That would be the smart thing to do right? HTC won’t drop the Vive price. I think they will keep it higher than the octopus rift. Not a smart move. I think Vive pro will be an insane price way beyond most consumers.

    • brandon9271

      God rays… I need more god rays!!

  • The Rift is a good competing headset and the extra $200 for Vive room scale is not justified for many. If you want room scale then its a toss up which to go for. Probably the Vive would win that one for its easier setup over a Rift and 3 or 4 sensors. Will HTC
    change? I doubt it.

    • care package

      True room scale games are very few and far between. Even if you buy a Vive for the room scale, you’re still going to be playing the same games Rift users are 9 out of 10x.

      • Yeah. I tested both HMD’s out extensively over a year before I chose the Rift.

        To buy the Vive I would also need the Deluxe Audio Strap to make it comfortable (An extra £100 for audio) and then you still get wand controllers with it and strangely a poorer VR User Interface on SteamVR too. I would also have needed 2 more plugs wiring up for the lighthouses and I already have 16 plugs used in this particular room so that was a factor. Lighthouse tracking is not 100% solid either so with the Vive Pro around the corner (can use extra lighthouses) and also the Pimax 8K, the premium price HTC ask for was just not justified.

      • jack black

        Literally every game I own, which is quite a few, utilizes room scale…

        • care package

          When I say true room scale, I mean built for room scale, not ‘I have lots of room to move around’ room scale.

  • Lucidfeuer

    So everything is in order (even though it doesn’t includes all Oculus headset that weren’t activated/used through Steam).
    Now these numbers don’t account for PSVR or GearVR which would be interesting, and probably further unsurprising.

    For shorts: shit products = less sales even on your own platform. Shocking. Now it’d be great if people had a least of prospective culture or skill, not to wait for the Vive Pro and Focus to be failures to call the obvious…

    Also because this apparently need to be precised sometimes: these are companies, not people, no one gives a shit about their feeling, but if you have billions or even millions in market cap then mediocre governance and vision at these highs is irresponsible and intolerable, these are not start-ups or small agencies (which often do better).

  • David Cole

    If reports are true that the HTC Vive new Pro Headset by itself is going to cost $799 don’t see them winning very many people back. the one to Watch is the Mixed Reality Numbers. I expect them to grow over the next year becoming a very strong 3rd place around 25% Market share. Especially with some of the deal out there and simple setup. And this is coming from owner of Oculus Rift and Mixed Reality headset.

    • jack black

      Meh on the mixed reality, got a ways to go still. It breaks down to Vive offers the better experience, and is the better headset, but oculus is cheaper. A lot of people will short change the experience for the cheaper set. I have both, occulus was a neat introduction to VR, but that was it, it quickly gathered dust, since getting the Vive I regularly use VR and have had some awesome experiences with it.

      I worry Oculus, with it’s limited experience, will slow down the development and investment into the VR market honestly.

      • Bungle2010

        How exactly does the Rift have a “limited” or “short changed” expedience. No it doesn’t. The difference between the two is very, very minor these days, and it just boils down to personal preference.

        • jack black

          controllers are better, room scale is much better, you don’t have to hack in Steam VR, built in supersampling for increased resolution, just better all around.

          • Bungle2010

            Totally wrong on all counts. How are the controllers “better”? No they’re not. Pretty much everyone is agreed that the Touch controllers are superior. Both are about equal on room scale these days. WTF does “hack in Steam VR” mean? Steam VR just works. And supersampling is available.

          • I think he is talking about the Rift :)

          • care package

            No he isnt

          • RS

            The controllers are horrible on the Vive. Who are you kidding. They’re two giant rods. You have both VR sets and you prefer those lightning rods over the smaller form factor, natural grip oculus touch?

      • Adam Broadhurst

        You make the Oculus Rift sound like a Virtual Boy!
        So sad that ‘fanboy-ism’ is as prevalent in VR gaming as it is in regular gaming.

  • Luke

    RockstarGames add Oculus support for LA Noire please

  • NooYawker

    At half the price I would have thought the gap would be larger.

    • Arv

      It’s actually two thirds of the price, but what makes this particularly interesting is the the Vive was allegedly outselling the Rift by 2:1 when the headsets first launched, so it’s not only caught up but overtaken the Vive.

      • Tommy

        This doesn’t mean the Rift is selling more than Vive. Maybe Vive users just aren’t gaming as much as Rift users nowadays.

        • care package

          lol ya, it pretty much means that dude.

    • Meow Smith

      Part of its probably because they didn’t drop the price till much later on, thank god they finally caved, htc was dominating way too much before the price drop.

    • care package

      The gap is larger. Steam surveys only count Rifts plugged in with Steam installed. What about Rifts that only use Oculus Home?

      • Caven

        I have a lot of trouble believing that’s a large demographic. That’s kind of like owning a race car, but not a driver’s license. And I’m sure it’s offset by the people who only use Viveport–but not Steam, and the people who own a Vive, but happened to have a Rift connected or no VR headset connected at the time of the survey. Absent any solid numbers, those groups aren’t worth considering.

        The Rift is ahead of the Vive in the Steam survey, and that’s really all we know. I don’t think either company wants to admit that the numbers for VR adoption aren’t where they want them to be, yet.

        • care package

          I have no idea what your point was there.

          • Caven

            My point was that the gap you mention is probably a lot tinier than you think.

          • care package

            Do you think owning a Rift without Steam is like owning a car without a license? Bad comparison. Maybe you want to think its tiny. I want to think its big. Who knows how accurate it is. Most of the time acurracy lacks. It can only be more Rifts though, not less

          • Caven

            To be clear, I said “race car”, not “car”. Lots of people without driver’s licenses own cars, but someone who’s such a car enthusiast that they own a race car probably didn’t skip out on getting a driver’s licence. Similarly, I don’t see someone being interested in gaming skip right over Steam and go straight to VR. I mean, what kind of person is going to be entirely disinterested in regular computer games, but then fall in love with VR gaming exclusively?

            Anyway, that unprovable “Rift users who don’t use Steam” demographic is why I brought up the possibility of Vive users who only use Viveport, or people with both headsets that didn’t have the Rift instead of the Vive connected at the time of the survey. What if those are large number of users, both of which would somehow under-represent the number of Vive users out there? There’s no way to prove that one way or the other, just as there’s no way to prove that lots of Rift users don’t use Steam. You say that the number of Rifts can only be higher, not less. But that’s true of the Vive, too. I could tell you that number is huge, and you’ll tell me it isn’t, and neither of our opinions will be based on anything other than a gut feeling.

            Because of that, I think it’s better to just take the reported numbers at face value. That still puts the Rift ahead, as well as continuing to put it on an upward trend relative to the Vive. Is that somehow not good enough so that it needs embellishment? Why even bother with the numbers in the first place if they’re just going to be assumed to be inaccurate in favor of one side or another?

          • care package

            I own 1 steam vr game. All the rest are on oculus home. I could unistall steam and vr just fine. Anyone with a rift who doesnt have steam isnt going to miss out. Anorher bad comparison with viveport. Steam IS the goto home for Vive.

          • Caven

            Having one Steam VR game isn’t the same as having only one Steam game. Can you honestly say you own nothing on Steam aside from that singular VR title? You have zero non-VR titles on Steam? If so, I still think that makes you a very small minority, because I have a lot of trouble believing that there’s a large number of people who had no interest in PC gaming until VR came along.

            If it turns out there’s a large number of people with Rifts, but no Steam account, it’s going to take some solid numbers to convince me. Show me some research that points to significant numbers of Rift users not having Steam accounts at all, then I’ll happily change my opinion. Until then, I’m going to have a lot of trouble believing that a large number of people skipped right past traditional PC gaming to go straight to VR. I’m not even sure I believe that you have no non-VR titles on Steam. Are you able to link your Steam profile, showing only the one VR title and no other games at all, VR or otherwise? If you can do that, I pledge to never again dispute any claims of Rift ownership being higher than indicated by the Steam Hardware Survey–no matter who is making the claim.

          • care package

            I said one vr game on steam. The point wasnt to support the idea that rift users wont have steam dude, the point was the lack of need for steam for vr when owning a rift. Oculus home is in a lot of ways better, complete and preferred by many, especially those who feel more comfortable staying native. I have opinions like you, but really dont care if you are convinced. I know how the minds of men work

          • Caven

            But if you have Steam, it can detect your Rift, even if you never run Steam VR. The Steam Hardware Survey doesn’t care if you use the Rift with Steam VR, and it doesn’t even care if you install any VR software. All it cares about is whether the hardware is plugged in at the time of the survey. If the Rift is plugged in, the Steam Hardware Survey will detect it, even if you never run Steam VR.

          • care package

            Um yes i know. Like i said, with my last reply, i wasnt trying to give reason for a larger gap. You changed the argument from that to the implication most people with a rift are going to use steam over oculus home, at least thats what i got from it. I was simply stating i think most Rift users prefer Oculus Home.
            VR is a different animal than traditional gaming, so i would disagree its a given that a rift owner is going to have steam installed. On any account its common sense to assume some dont, so the Rift count is going to be higher regardless. Its how much higher we might disagree on

          • James Hardaker

            Steam hardware survey is monthly and optional.
            http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
            This entire thread branch is nonsense. If you are not using steam vr you are unlikely to participate in the survey. The survey is also skewed as I reckon people with a new sweet rig will feel really chuffed and are more likely to participate.

            “Steam conducts a monthly survey to collect data about what kinds of computer hardware and software our customers are using. Participation in the survey is optional, and anonymous. The information gathered is incredibly helpful to us as we make decisions about what kinds of technology investments to make and products to offer.”

            I haven’t taken the survey since i got my Oculus and I don’t own a vive. Thats 1 more right there.

          • I am a Steam veteran of 13 years, have many many purchases on it.

            Then I got a Rift and 99% of all VR games I play and purchase are in Oculus Home. I just prefer Oculus Home for its convenience of loading games over SteamVR so if a game is on both, Home gets it. The deals are often sweet too.

            So I also think the amount of VR users who do not even own Steam is going to be substantial.

          • Caven

            But you just admitted to being a longtime Steam veteran. Even if you never start Steam VR–not even once–the Steam Hardware Survey can still detect your Rift under normal non-VR Steam usage, so long as it’s connected at the time of the survey. So unless you physically unplug your Rift from your PC whenever you’re not using VR, Steam still has the ability to recognize your ownership of the Rfit.

            If you were a person who had no interest in PC gaming until VR came along, your particular usage case might make for an interesting data point. But as an existing Steam user who exclusively uses Oculus Home for VR, you’re not the sort of person who would contribute to an under-reporting of Rift users on Steam. It’s the people who are completely uninterested in non-VR gaming that I’m curious about, because I just don’t see how someone could be very interested in Skyrim VR and Superhot VR for instance, but not the regular version of Skyrim and Superhot.

          • True, but I thought these studies were not about Steam detecting the VR headset being connected but rather usage of the VR headset through SteamVR at the time of the survey? I mean that would be a better “usage” metric. It would also be helpful if Oculus published use stats too but they don’t so we can only really speculate at total numbers.

            I also agree that the VR numbers are not where they should be yet. The technology is such a leap forwards to those that have experienced it (and have the vision to see where it will go) it will happen I am certain of that. AR and VR will merge too as AR is where the benefits are more “household” and less enthusiast/gamer. I have used the hololens and although it had its own limitations it was certainly something I could see replacing the Smart Phone, and that took years to be accepted.

          • Caven

            The detection is pretty simple. The survey only checks for the presence of the hardware. It’s not even necessary to install drivers. I tested this by connecting a Rift to a Microsoft Surface Pro (USB only, as the Surface Pro has no HDMI.) No Oculus software was installed. Even though it is literally impossible to use the Rift with the Surface Pro in this configuration (no video, and no extra USB ports for the cameras, the DOTA 2 variant of the Steam Hardware Survey detects the Rift.

            That’s why I have trouble believing there are lots of unrepresented Rift users. A person would have to leave their Rift unplugged for the Steam Hardware Survey to miss it.

            Usage metrics would be nice, and it’s a shame stats like that aren’t tracked.

  • doug

    Since no one mentioned it, and to inform consumers, only oculus’ privacy policy allows it to collect and permanently store data on everything you do in VR. Facebook owns oculus. Imagine the possibilities! https://www.vrheads.com/vr-and-your-privacy-how-are-these-companies-treating-your-data

    • care package

      everything you do on the internet is already being collected and permanently stored. the only way to avoid it is get off the internet.

      • doug

        Yes, gamers are off the data collection network when they play a single player VR game, unless it’s on the Rift.

        • care package

          But then again, what kind of data is anyone going to get from a single player vr game

          • doug

            https://www.roadtovr.com/exploring-near-future-moral-quandaries-with-invar-studios/
            Facebook is going to get your personality profile, to a granularity never before imagined, and sell it to anyone doing any kind of background check on you… employment, security, firearms purchases, etc.

          • care package

            Google is already doing this. I personally don’t have a facebook account so they aren’t getting much from me.

        • Mike

          That’s a dangerous belief to have. A few Steam VR games state publicly in their ToS that they collect user action data while in the VR game. And I’m sure many others collect the data without even telling the user. That data can then be used however they wish, or sold to a larger company.

        • Data collection is not all bad. Single player games can also collect data by the way. In a connected world that data can be sent to the developers to help them tune their game content, discover what people like in their game and what they hardly use so they don’t put effort into a feature that is never used for example.

          As long as the user is not identified and the data is anonymous then it is OK in my book. Windows collects more data than any game anyway and websites use cookies to track you too. Emails have pictures in them stored on servers, when you load them up they get notified that YOU personally exist (not a duff email address) and you obviously looked at the email. This is a far greater worry in my opinion as they sell your email address as a Live one to anybody.

          As @parsley_breath:disqus said, the only way to stop this is get off the internet, including any smart devices you own (phones etc).

          • doug

            So, you hope facebook anonymizes their user behavior data haul from the rift out of the goodness of their hearts, and you doubt having facebook look over your shoulder in VR is any worse than your email address getting out?

          • Doug, I don’t “hope” or “doubt” anything, that is you writing on my behalf for some reason. I am well aware of how tracking data works having developed systems for data mining myself.

            Facebook and literally millions of others track you. They are no worse than Email Spam, Cold Callers, Website Cookies, All Social Media channels, most popular mobile apps, Google Analytics SDK for mobiles can track every single tap you make, how long you stay on a tab/page etc. Then we have Sky / Netflix / Amazon tracking what you watch so they can “Recommend” shows to you on what you like. Data collection is everywhere including the Disqus account which you just posted on, your entire post history will be in logs along with the IP address that you used at that time. Even a VPN and temporary email addresses can only do so much this day and age and the DPA is near useless at stopping tracking too.

            And to be fair, targeted advertising (which is what most data collection boils down to) is better than random advertising if I have to put up with it.

    • Two billion Facebook users don’t seem to mind. I’m one of them.

    • Tharny

      Bring out the tinfoil hats.

      • care package

        bring out the dunce caps

    • Micky

      facebook ownership is one of the things which put me off the oculus rift. But the thing which puts me off htc vive are those controllers. I would need to test both to see which I pref. Just no where around me which has them. I know the oculus rift has the best controls but also doesn’t look to have the cleanest of image.

  • Les Vega

    while price is no doubt a large factor the Rift controllers with thumb sticks and ABXY button configuration are less intimidating to gamers than a featureless track pad system and with “”exclusives titles”” that have been consistently best of breed for vr it’s no wonder why it’s wiping the floor with HTC.

    • insum snoy

      Its not even close to wiping the floor with HTC. Bethesdas decision to release FO4VR only on HTC Vive is nothing to do with HTC. Even if it was though, dont you think its a bit hypocritical to be using exclusives as a basis for bashing the Vive?

      As far as VR headsets go the Vive is the best one and that isnt debatable. People are buying the Rift because its sold at a good price and that is the only leaf HTC need to take from Facebooks …um book.

      • Andrew Jakobs

        Except FO4VR does work with the rift, and to make it work better you just have to run a small utility, just like with the Vive you can run it to run Rift exclusive games.
        Which is the best headset IS debatable, even though you own 8 vives and 3 Rifts.. It’s also your biase that makes you favor the vive.. I don’t care which one you really like, but don’t go blabbing nonsense on which one is ‘nondebatable’ the best.

        • insum snoy

          I know FO4 works and it makes your comment that more hypocritical.

          Its nothing about bias that makes the Vive better than Rift; the Vive is simply the better product, this is fact and also why its the 99% dominant product at any tech event therefore its not debatable outside of fanboy bias like yours.

          Is the Vive the better product for the price? Probably not, that part is debatable.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            Still not true. the reason you see a lot on tech events is because the developers have a bias for the Vive, it’s as simple as that. It’s a fact the Rift is the most comfortable headset between the two, it’s a fact the touchcontrollers are much better than the vivecontrollers. BUT we have to agree, the tracking of the vive is easier to setup and has a larger range, but enough developers and users have already shown the Rift tracking isn’t any worse than the vive’s, well maybe it is on tech events due to the camera’s having too much interference.

            What makes the vive a better product over the rift, especially from a consumers standpoint?

            if there is someone here that’s actually a fanboy, than it’s really you. Personally I don’t care which headset you want to buy. But what you state it’s just not true.

          • jack black

            lol, Rift controllers SUCK! Seriously. Vive is hands down better in that regard. It’s also hands down better on room scale and tracking, built in supersampling, you don’t have to hack in Steam VR or popular games like Fallout.

            Vive > Rift in virtually every possible category.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            uhh, the rift controllers are much MUCH better than the vive controllers. And you don’t have to hack for SteamVR (but you have to hack the vive to work with some rift exclusives).
            Vive is better/simpler at tracking, but it certainly isn’t better “virtually every possible category”.

          • Cost aside, is one better at pure Virtual Reality than the other? Not in my experience, They both do almost identical VR when it comes down to it. The extras (or lack of) are what make customers choose one over the other. The Rift has more content
            so that plays a big part in a gamers deciding factor. Businesses prefer the Vive due to accessories and room scale. The new Vive Pro is very interesting though. I have more faith in HTC for that than the Pimax 8K but who knows how it will unfold.

          • insum snoy

            Is one better for pure VR you ask? Iv got plenty of experience with both. Vive does roomscale better and with less trackers, its easier to set up, with less USB cables running from the PC since the Lighthouse trackers are wireless and allows for a much bigger play area. (tracking 2.0 further solidifies that as it officially supports 30×30 foot play area). The FOV on the Vive is slightly wider and doesn’t reach the edge of the display screen like it does in the Rift, the screen has a better and more natural contrast of colours than the darker screen of the Rift, the front facing camera means you can easily switch to a forward looking view of the real world without having to take the headset off, you can even have the camera view in the chaperone bounds when people get close to it and the IPD adjuster actually makes a noticeable difference when adjusted on the Vive.

            Those are a few key points for how Vive does pure VR better. Rift content works on Vive as does Vive content on Rift so content argument is mute.

          • Mane Vr

            Hey have u vive guys ever stop amd think maybe the focus on room scale is one of the thinks holding it back i know i got a brunch of people to pick the rift over vive simply by telling them i play it just like i would a normal xbox shooter. I play seated and handle locomotion thru the thumbstick so there is no need to set as side space just to play a videogame when i tell them that most r shock and said they where told standing or room scale was the only way to play vr. Knowing that isn’t true they end up picking the rift.. also remember because of oculus api lower spec computers can now jump in all that combine with a lower cost and exclusive games is making the rift surpass the vive. More devs will wake up to this fact amd start to make more rift only games it will be a snow ball effect

          • insum snoy

            You would have a point if the Vive wasnt equally capable of seated VR. But it is so you dont. The system minimum requirements for Vive were lowered to similar requirements to the Rift last year after alternate reprojection methods were added to SteamVR. You’re misinforming people just like others in this thread.

          • Mane Vr

            What why i said it focus everything info on the vive out there talks about roomscale oculus isn’t pushing it. That was my point. Vive cost more require a more powerful pc and gives the impression u need to set aside space to play it all while Oculus doesn’t.

          • insum snoy

            Also Oculus is pushing roomscale that is why pretty much all of their latest games support it.

            Both do seated VR and Vive does room-scale VR better than the other, as explained in my last post. Vive doesn’t require higher system requirements since early last year when the specs were lowered after the SteamVR update that introduced re-projection methods similar to async re-projection, also explained in my last post.

          • Mane Vr

            O since when can u run a vive on a i3, 8 gb of ram, and a 1050ti. Last time i checked it said a i5 and a 1060. Also support and promote are two different thing i see fb and ig ads for the vive talking about room scale i see rift ads showing it’s games. And it’s the asw that allow the lower spec that isn’t in openvr yet so yes vive require higher spec to run

          • insum snoy

            Vive has two alternative methods of ASW. Async Re-projection and Interleaved Re-projection. Both were added early last year, both increase play-ability on lower spec computers. Next time do your homework it will help prevent you loosing arguments on internet forums so much.

          • brandon9271

            Just say Vive is better because of Lighthouse. That’s what this all boils down too and it’s the only really advantage that matters. The Rift is lighter, more comfortable and has better controllers but Vive is much easier to setup. At the end of the day once both are up and running the differences aren’t deal breakers for either one.

          • insum snoy

            First you say the Vive is better just because of lighthouse then you go on to say its also easier to setup and they are both the same. Make your mind up.

            Iv listed the advantages the Vive gives in a different reply, they are factual, cant be refuted and are more than “just lighthouse”.

            Vive had all of its .dll sigs signed too. :D

          • Mane Vr

            Right u just show u don’t know what u talking about openvr has two version of atw not asw maybe u should look up the difference cause u keep giving example of ATW not ASW which only the oculus api does which is why it and use lower spec.

          • insum snoy

            This stuff is readily available for anyone to Google so your attempt at spinning the truth into a positive for Oculus is a complete failure, im not sure who you’re trying to fool here, yourself or people who could potentially read your BS.

            Iv shown that I know exactly what I am talking about and its all backed up with fact at the end of a google search, while you’ve shown that you like to argue with “no you’re wrong because ATW has a T in it and ASW has an S in it! and um OpenGL so you dont know!”. Its a laughable comeback really.

            While both methods are different and one works via (and let me clarify this was never disputed) their end result of allowing VR to be played on lower spec hardware is the same. Therefore reducing your lower spec argument to nothing. I dont expect you to grow up and admit you were wrong because you juvenile fanboys are all the same. For that reason dont expect another reply because if I was as childish as you are this could go on forever.

          • Troll post. Do not bite folks. Google search = fact? and the actual difference between ATW and ASW is a letter? lol. Nice one. The rest of your post makes no sense whatsoever either. Funny though….I like that you randomly threw OpenGL in there for kicks haha.

          • Mane Vr

            Ok let me help u out here it’s openvr the api of steamvr not opengl. And the T in atw stands for time which reproject a frame anytime one is drop which both oculus api and openvr api both do now the S in asw stand for space which allows a game to run at 45fps while accounting for ur position so games can be played on a lower spec computers as low as i3, 8gb, and 1050ti there is nothing currently in openvr that does that is why u need a i5, 8gb, and 1060 for the vive… u can’t run vive at 45fps that is my whole point

          • Room Scale is great if you have a spare room. Most of us don’t and clear a space which means the headset only comes out on “special occasions” This will hamper VR adoption I agree and why Inside-Out tracking + Wireless is quite important for adoption (also why both HTC and Oculus are developing into this style). Also the fact that the Rift sensors are cameras so the worry that somebody could hack it and watch you is not great either. The Rift with 2 sensors is easy to setup if you just want 180 seated though, that I agree. Also 2 less plug sockets needed ;)

          • Get Schwifty!

            The camera business is mostly FUD… do not worry about this, look up the articles on it.

          • You missed out quite a bit of the Rift pros, probably because you favor the Vive, the points you mention are all very good ones and I know It is a good product (I too have used it moderately) but the Rift has areas that the Vive does not (Touch, headphones, nicer UI etc). As a background I have developed on the DK2 and then the Rift so know Oculus systems better.

            As to content, yes the Vive can play Oculus Home exclusives with a software hack (Revive) but it is not always a simple case of clicking play and unless you are a business then content is king.

            For instance we had a mixed session last week. We had a Rift a Vive (with Deluxe Audio Strap) and a MS Hololens all setup.

            On the rift I put on The Blu to get them used to it seated, then Bullet Train and finally to Robo Recall and Eleven Table Tennis, . Everybody was involved and loving the experience trying to beat each other. Then we switched to the Vive and played Rick and Morty for about 20 mins.

            Observations, there was less fidgeting with the headset on the Vive and the newbies found the Wand controllers easier to understand.
            Tracking was not an issue on any system. The only hurdle was teleport movement if anything.

            With the Rift, the users got familiar with Oculus Home 2 (BETA) very quickly and liked to mess about in my “Home” which I will now have to fix as my sofa is probably in the sky next to my jellyfish tank! jumping in and out of games was easy and quite intuitive. On the Vive however the headset was off and people were scrolling Steam games (My colleague has about 40 steam VR purchases) looking for something to launch. Rec Room refused to run which was a shame.

            With that the Vive feels better quality in your hands and new users can figure out the wands quicker than touch controllers. The headset fits and feels nicer as long as you have purchased the Deluxe Audio Strap too. But the cheap and cheerful rift had the most laughs at the end of the day. Convenience played a big part here.

            The Hololens was played with the least and had the most complaints, mostly due to the letterbox FOV and the fact the room was brightly lit so the visuals were hard to see.

            Anyway, for others reading this, here is an article that breaks down the pros and cons both Rift and Vive. I think this is a fair assessment.

            https://www.tomsguide.com/us/oculus-rift-vs-htc-vive,review-3433.html

            My summary is this:
            If this is for business and/or you have a spare empty room then I would suggest getting the Vive. If you just want to dive in and have fun in VR then get a Rift for its better UI and native content.

            New headsets are coming at the end of the year which will change the debate all over again.

          • Get Schwifty!

            Same old spec argument… its not about that ultimately as a price-performance combo for the user…. let it go man. You are quoting details to people who know all about it as well on here…

          • AJ_74

            Owned both (and still do own 2 Rifts) and I greatly prefer the Rift. I literally do not see where the Vive has a single advantage unless you need or want more than a 6x6ft play area (I certainly don’t).

            Just my take.

      • Get Schwifty!

        Ah the “if you can afford it, it must be best argument”…. the point is for the price the Rift does *very* well… is it’s tracking as robust? No, but it’s good enough on a properly operating environment the difference doesn’t warrant the current cost. It’s not a non-debatable point about which solution for the price is more appropriate, that’s down to the user to decide.

  • Andrew Jakobs

    Maybe with the release of the pro, we’ll see a pricedrop in the regular headset (although I doubt it).

  • Papias

    The Vive is very fragile and is damaged by sweat. Their customer service is a nightmare to deal with. Go to YouTube and see the videos about this (e.g. Mixed Reality TV, Blunty, etc.).

  • It’s quite obvious: the device have very similar performances, but they have a $200 price difference. People choose the cheaper one.

    • care package

      Actually I think most consumers interested in VR are smarter than that. I don’t doubt in most cases they’ve come to the conclusion the hardware advantage is easily the Rift, as well as the price difference.

      • josh

        The hardware advantage is not Rift, that would be Vive.

        • care package

          You can have your own opinion, but its not a logical one. Vive offers better room scale options, yet very few games use room scale and few users even apply it. Rift features is a much longer list. Lets face it, vive pro is the real consumer version, and not a dev kit 2 like vive is

          • brandon9271

            Lighthouse tracking is the only advantage HTC has really. The Rift is lighter, more comfortable and has much better controllers. Being $200 cheaper is just icing on the cake

        • jack black

          Agreed wholeheartedly, i own both, but Vives controllers are better, it does room scale better, which despite the comments here, works in every game I own, it has built in supersampling, you don’t have to hack in Steam VR.

          Me thinks this comment section is full of people trying to convince themselves that shortchanging their VR experience, didn’t really accomplish that.

      • NooYawker

        The lower priced product will always sell more, always.

  • jack black

    I would imagine some of this has to do with Vive having the pro unit coming out this summer, and some holding on the purchase till then. As an owner of both, Vive is hands down better, but that does come at a premium.

    • Get Schwifty!

      There are of course people who own both (including many developers) who say the opposite…

      • jack black

        Don’t see how, Vive controllers are better, Vive room scale is much, much better, you don’t have to hack in Steam VR to play real games, built in supersampling for increased resolution, just better all around.

  • Tommy

    So Rift completely dominates on Oculus Store and now also leads on Steam. How is it possible for Vive to remain in the lead?
    This doesn’t even account for the amount of Rift users that don’t even use Steam.
    It doesn’t matter to me either way but it seems everyone keeps leaving this info out.

    • Get Schwifty!

      That’s a pretty small difference to say “totally dominates”…. and very few users of Rift at this point don’t also use Steam….

  • Get Schwifty!

    Everyone scoffed when I said this was quite possible when HTC refused to drop prices to really compete…

  • Esteban

    Let’s see a March 7th, 2018 update to this article. Go Team Oculus… No really, go.

  • robertwade

    But WHY is WMR not getting a decent share? It’s much less expensive, easier to setup and performs as well. I’ve been using an Acer rig on Steam and I love it in Elite Dangerous. I find all VR pretty much useless outside of gaming, but it surprises me WMR isn’t gaining any ground. It’s VR, period.

  • The Hungry Galaxy

    I tried both the Oculus and HTC Vive. They were both good, but I found the Oculus to be far superior. I did not understand why people were saying the Vive was better. The controllers were better on the Oculus, and the Oculus was way easier to set up. While the Vive had more overall games compatible with it, the Oculus games were higher quality.

  • Richard_PF

    This debate reminds me of the exchange between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at the end of the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley. Jobs says: “Our stuff is better than yours.” Gates says: “You don’t get it Steve, that doesn’t matter.” If Oculus can maintain the price point advantage, and HTC continues to have quality problems with the controllers, I don’t see this trend changing any time soon.

  • borkbork

    Glad I got a WMR, it’s the poor mans reality head wear.