With the Rift S launching just two and a half months ago, on Steam the headset has already nearly surpassed all Windows VR headsets in use on the platform. With the original Rift and Rift S, Oculus headsets now make up half of the headsets used on Steam.

Each month Valve collects data from Steam users to determine some baseline statistics about what kind of hardware and software is used by the platform’s population, and to see how things are changing over time; that includes which VR headsets are connected to users’ computers. Participation in the data collection is optional, and headsets aren’t counted if they aren’t powered on and recognized by the user’s PC at the moment the data is collected.

Chart courtesy Valve

The latest data from the survey shows the Oculus Rift S coming strong out of the gate in its second month with an 8.40% share of headsets connected in the last month—deftly leaping over the considerably more expensive Vive Pro’s 2.19% share (+0.53%)—and nearly trouncing all Windows VR headsets which hold 9.39% (–1.74%).

The Rift S appears to have taken a roughly equal bite of headset share on Steam from both the original Rift at 40.9% (–3.22%) and the HTC Vive (–3.68%).

Combined, the original Rift and Rift S made up 49.3% (+3.73%) of headsets on Steam in the last month—a record high for Oculus—while the Vive and Vive Pro combined now hold 39.27% (–3.15%).

SEE ALSO
Rift S is the Lowest Rated Oculus Headset on Amazon, Quest Vaults Ahead

The Valve Index is also now seen in the data for the first time, holding a 1.46% share of connected headsets. Granted, Valve is still ramping up its manufacturing for the headset, and only managed to tackle the Index backorder in the US as of late last month. The Rift S also only snagged 1.45% in its first month after launch, so next month’s data should give us a clearer picture of how quickly Valve is able to get Index out the door as it ramps up manufacturing.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Fairy Duster

    I know this is worded to be a negative for Valve but kudos on them for keeping Steam open to all HMDs. Power of the consumer to choose. Unfortunately, this does mean that more people will flock to Oculus headsets so they can have the best of both worlds – steam and oculus-exclusive games. Have to admire the amount of gamer choice that Valve fosters, though.

    • aasd

      I hope it divides so oculus goes mobile and valve goes pc-streaming/tethered

      • Nejham Mosquera

        Why?

        • asshat

          because thats what their both the best at, and they dont need to undermine each other with half made solutions like the Rift S or the vive focus. Just stick to your lane and wee all get a piece of the cake.

          but yeah oculus said theyre now aiming for mobile, prolly why the S was released when it could have been better.

          • Simple O’Rourke

            Rift S is pretty damn good for $400.

          • Valve has no connection to Vive Focus.
            What’s wrong with PCVR being divided in two tiers – accessible and high-end?

          • draez

            you do know Rift started this in the PC space and then added a mobile solution, right? They also have the best controllers that games are already made to support.

            In any case, the lack of true blacks turns me off to either of these offerings and I was looking to purchase a new HMD this year.

            I was ready to buy Index until I heard about the screens,. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t offer a higher tier version with better screens. For that matter, I don’t know why the Rift-S doesn’t have the same option. I would have bought one of those for $100 more.

          • Zero7159

            I went from the Rift CV1 to the Rift S and hardly noticed any difference as to the blacks. Rift S is fine, I love mine.

          • draez

            Everyone I’ve talked to that has a Rift S and a CV1 along with all the YouTube videos comparing them say the blacks are noticeably different and if you have the CV1 it’s not a big enough change to warrant the upgrade given the blacks are more of a gray. You are literally the only person that has said it’s not a significant difference so far that I’ve read or watched a review on. I tried to go to Best Buy to try one out but they are only on display behind a case and not for use.
            Curious, have you tried games that have deep blacks like Elite Dangerous?

          • Zero7159

            I do not have Elite Dangerous and so I do not know how it compares from CV1 to Rift S. That being said, I do have Lone Echo and have played it on both the CV1 and the Rift S. I hardly noticed any difference in the blacks. Same with the opening part of Defector, which is set against a black backdrop.

          • care package

            Oculus isn’t good at PCVR now, while valve IS? lol

      • MeowMix

        No thx. I want an affordable yet good quality HMD for PCVR. Rift S fits that bill perfectly.

    • FalconLX 911

      I’m hoping Inside out tracking gets better as it seams that the industry is headed in that direction. As it is now I still notice a difference between the Rift S and my Vive pro when it comes to FPS like Pavlov, Stand out, onward, and Contractors

    • Andrew Jakobs

      “Valve but kudos on them for keeping Steam open to all HMDs.”
      Well it’s in their best interest, Steam is what is their goose with the golden eggs, so making sure as many people can use the platform will make sure more people will buy games from their platform.. it’s just as simple as that..

    • Ace of Spades

      What do you mean Kudos on them? Kudos for WHAT Exactly?
      What kind of Fanboy Juice are you on?
      Valve is a Software Company/Publisher that makes 99% of their money from OTHER PEOPLES WORK by letting them sell on their “platform”.
      Thats it.
      Valve is a vile monopoly that needs to be smashed ASAP, they are not our friend.

      • Cameron Brown

        Calm down Tim Sweeny.

        In all seriousness, Valve aren’t a fucking monopoly. Dislike them? Go and pirate games instead. A monopoly is by definition unavoidable but I could cut Steam out of my life today but I really value their services.

        Steam/Xbox Live/Google Play/App Store is not cheap to run. Stop being so entitled to expect 30% cut to go away because it’s unsustainable.

  • Mark Jeffcock

    Would this survey capture use of Oculus Quests using SteamVR via Virtual Desktop?

    • gamechanger

      Probably not as it counts HMDs physically connected to PCs.

    • benz145

      Not likely, but I’ll see if I can confirm.

  • linh

    I have a valve index last couple weeks, did not work, returned it and get a rift S, it works on the first connection out of the box, enjoy skyrim VR since them. Unfortunately i still like the valve index , better graphic by reviews, but it is still having too many problems

    • oompah

      skyrim is the best VR experience
      I tend to forget the real world
      (except for seeing dismembered hands , why they did not make arms & body of self WHY)
      & when I come out , I start having withdrawal symptoms, nostalgia, loss etc. et. al
      hah ha
      Hey Bethsaida gods , I implore u to keep skyrim V alive with horiz. additions. Pl. hear my prayer

      • Ace of Spades

        There are TWO mods that add your body to Skyrim VR:

      • Ninjai71

        Try No Man’s Sky in VR it’s better optimized for VR (except the actual crappy performance). I love both games only in VR.

  • Harmoniser

    I’ve got a index and a rift s. The more and more I use them I’m highly impressed with the Rift s. Pound for pound it’s the best HMD out there. It’s just such a shame their games are locked to their HMD, some their games are the best in VR, everyone should get to play them regardless of HMD. But I can understand why.

    • Zero7159

      Good thoughts. I have a Rift S and have thought about buying an Index. I think I will stick with the Rift S, the extra $600 for the Index is not worth it for me, particularly because of some of the downsides (lack of native compatibility with Oculus apps, controller differences, etc.)

      • Harmoniser

        I also found using revive on index, while useful if you don’t own a rift, the games did look inferior.
        Oh Index controllers aren’t that useful right now.

  • Offering affordable devices is what is helping Oculus in gaining so many market shares. Huge investments from Facebook are helping them a lot

  • Thunk

    The reality is, most people want PCVR at an affordable price, without that feeling of buyers remorse they’d get from buying an expensive headset, which they’d only casually use once in a while. The inside out tracking and optics on the Oculus Rift S are good enough for most people, and furthermore, it seems like a $50 price cut to the Rift S is on the way, which will further boost Oculus’ lead in the PCVR scene. But what really matters isn’t hardware gimmicks, it’s the actual content of the games themselves, and that’s where Oculus are doing a great job of prioritising and putting their investments towards.

  • Jarilo

    More affordable.

  • Justin

    Would be nice if Steam Surveys recognised other headsets not just the newly added Rift S. I spend a few hours a day in my Pimax 8K and I opted into this survey only to have no recognition of my HMD even though I rely on SteamVR to access my VR content.

    Poor effort and skewed results.

    • care package

      They’ve always been skewed anyway since not all Rifts can be accounted for via a Steam survey.

  • ImperialDynamics

    the colors are wrong in the chart. You should switch Huawei VR and HTC Vive colors in the labels at the bottom

  • oompah

    Quest & quest like may soon replace all

    • Only if somebody perfects a headset that can do mobile and PC. It’s technically possible. The Quest could do so already, with it’s USB-C plug. That’s capable of supplying power and data in a single cable. The only reason it doesn’t is likely out of a need to keep the Rift S relevant.

      • tasfa@hotmail.com

        no it couldn’t why do you think all PC vr hmd’s use HDMI/displayport.
        USB-C doesn’t have enough bandwidth to stream both data and the video signal and wireless isn’t quite there yet/very expensive, won’t be long though, I imagine they will have solved the wire issue by the next generation of HMD’s

  • I love my Rift, but lumping the Rift with the Rift S seems like an insult. It’s the Tito Jackson to Micheal Jackson.