Despite being marketed primarily as a standalone headset, Quest 2 is continuing its meteoric rise among VR headsets used on PC through Steam. Last month the headset picked up another 3.54% of the share of headsets on the platform, rocketing past other headsets in the process, and pushing the share of all Facebook headsets on the platform to nearly 60%.

Monthly-Connected Headsets on Steam Explained

Each month Valve collects info 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, including the use of VR headsets.

The data shared in the survey represents the number of headsets connected to Steam over a given month, so we call the resulting figure ‘monthly-connected headsets’ for clarity; it’s the closest official figure there is to ‘monthly active VR users’ on Steam, with the caveat that it only tells us how many VR headsets were connected, not how many were actually used.

While Valve’s data is a useful way see which headsets are most popular on Steam, the trend of monthly-connected headsets is obfuscated because the data is given exclusively as percentages relative to Steam’s population—which itself is an unstated and constantly fluctuating figure.

To demystify the data Road to VR maintains a model, based on the historical survey data along with official data points directly from Valve and Steam, which aims to correct for Steam’s changing population and estimate the actual count—not the percent—of headsets being used on Steam.

Monthly-Connected Headsets

Following three months of continuous growth, and a new record high last month, the number of monthly-connected VR headsets on Steam dropped slightly in April to 2.22% (−0.08%), which we estimate to be about 2.85 million monthly-connected headsets.

Looking at VR adoption on Steam compared to some other metrics gives an idea of how VR stacks up. At 2.22%, VR adoption on Steam is steadily encroaching on the total number of MacOS users using Steam on a monthly basis, while the growth of users with 8+ CPU cores is so far outpacing VR.

Share of VR Headsets on Steam

Looking at the breakdown of individual headsets in use on Steam, we can see that Quest 2 continues to grow in share by leaps and bounds. Last month the headset reached 27.79% (+3.54%) of the share of headsets on Steam, it’s second largest monthly gain on record.

To put this level of growth into perspective, Valve Index, another major headset on the platform, grew in share by only a tiny fraction to 16.39% (+0.02%) compared to Quest 2.

Quest 2’s significant growth in share came at the expense of Facebook and non-Facebook headsets alike: HTC Vive at 11.38% (−0.86%), original Rift at 6.29% (−0.78%), Rift S at 20.25% (−0.71%), Windows Mixed Reality at 5.81% (−0.69%), and a handful of smaller losses from less common headsets.

Quest 2’s growth has also pushed the share of all Facebook headsets on Steam to new heights, reaching nearly 60% of monthly-connected headsets in April.

Meanwhile, the share of all HTC headsets on Steam dropped to 15.50% (−1.01%), making Valve the second largest headset vendor on Steam for the first time, with its single Index headset holding 16.39% (+0.02%) share.

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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."
  • 3872Orcs

    Time for a new push on the tech and games! I don’t like seeing the monthly connected headsets going down.

    I know I’m waiting for either a standalone Quest 2 competitor or a next gen wireless PCVR system. I’ve not used my Index for a month now, I just hate that cable!

    Hopefully HTC makes a strong appearance next week. Though really I think we need more news from Valve, Apple and Sony to really get anywhere.

    • alxslr

      Wireless (&lighter) PCVR from Valve, HTC or a WMR partner would be enough for the moment. Higher FOV with eye tracking/foveated rendering would be great. I know that’s asking a lot but we’ve been waiting for it for years, and it’s been more than 3 years from Oculus Half Dome prototipe.

      Hope Apple VR headset can link wirelessly to M2 iMacs in the future, too, and gets those features, too.

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      • Rogue Transfer

        The most recent remark from Facebook’s chief scientist Michael Abrash about wider FOV was, ‘we’ll see if we can get there in the next five years’.

        So, I wouldn’t expect it, since it’s clearly not part of their plan currently.

        The early 140° Half Dome prototype(the later ones reduced the FOV down to 108~113° due to smaller form factors) was actually revealed in a Facebook YT researcher talk to be an offshoot, as their 20% free time project. Of course, no one ever got to try them and Facebook declined on media requests, saying they had no further plans to show it further than they had(in the videos clips).

        However, there is still both Pimax and Acer(who now own Starbreeze’s StarVR One wide FOV & foveated rendering tech). Perhaps we’ll see more consumer aimed products from each, over the next couple years.

        • morfaine

          Wider FOV reduces performance because more of the scene needs to be rendered. Dev’s are already struggling to gain and maintain 90fps on games on existing wired headsets, let alone wireless streaming headsets. Widening the FOV reduces the opportunity for more immersive graphics.

          I think they’ll widen FOV when they think they have the overhead to do so but framerate, higher resolution and wireless streaming trump FOV for most use cases.

    • OdinTheOdious

      PSVR 2 is due to be wired

      A huge mistake

      With Oculus AirLink now out and working very well PSVR 2 will be old tech the very day it releases if it’s wired

      • Kevin White

        Definitely will be wired, and just think, if it comes out Oct. 2022 and lasts as long as PSVR1, then it’ll be a wired Sony VR headset through Oct 2028! Phew!

        But maybe there’ll be a Sony wireless VR solution between 2022 and 2028 for PSVR2.

        • Andrew Jakobs

          Definitely will be wired? no exact word about that yet, and the PS5 comes with WIFI 6 built in needed for low latency VR. I doubt it will be wired only.

          • Kevin White

            How about this: almost certainly will be wired, at least to start.

            “The headset, which is still unnamed, is slated to connect to PS5 with a single cord to simplify setup and improve ease-of-use.”

            SOURCE: https://www.roadtovr.com/sony-confirms-next-gen-psvr-coming-new-controllers-feature-dualsense-tech/

            I’d be [pleasantly] surprised if it were wireless, but I doubt it will be. Maybe later in its life cycle.

          • Tommy

            Upload just announced today it will be wired, has 2k per eye, eye tracking, and vibrating feedback. Not sure if the vibrating feedback is for haptic feedback or Sony’s new anti motion sickness patent.

      • totally read wired as weird in the first sentence there XD

      • Arno van Wingerde

        Sorry, do you know something the rest of the world does not? if so, can you share that knowledge with the rest of us?

  • Mateusz Pawluczuk

    AirLink seems to work with Test Accounts (a workaround that doesn’t require FB merge). Oculus trying to corner every market.

  • We were seeing this trend since a lot, HTC couldn’t keep counting on the old Vives…

  • JakeDunnegan

    I just bought a Quest 2 recently (I have the Rift and Rift S). I like it, though I’m getting REALLY annoyed about the need for a facebook account. REALLLLYY annoyed.

    I looked at the Valve product – but the price is so flippin prohibitive – and it’s still cabled and requires the external cameras. I’d love to see Valve come out with something to compete with the Quest 2.

    • dulk

      and how is comparison Rift S vs Quest 2 – on which PC game looks better?
      quest 2 has better resolution of screen – is it visible?
      is graphics sharper on Quest 2?

      • Naji3D

        Quest 2 is much more better in resolution, but Rift S is more comfortable and lighter.

        • dulk

          even with such elite strap
          https://www.oculus.com/accessories/quest-2-elite-strap/
          Rift S is more comfortable?

          • Naji3D

            yes, I got the elite strap which is a lot better than the one that comes inbox , but still front heavy.

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      • JakeDunnegan

        I like the Quest 2 a lot, actually. I looked around a lot for what types of things people are doing, and one thing I got was an external battery, and apparently, Oculus even knows there are issue because they sell a VERY overpriced head strap addition.

        So, for 20 bucks or so, I have a strap that helps me hold a battery back there, and works as a great counterweight to the weight of the actual headset. For my two bits, I find it far more comfortable than any other VR set I’ve used (with the extra strap on there).

        Here’s a link to what I got: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086Y6V2H4

        As for how games look, it’s running at a higher Mhz refresh rate at this point (90 with a potential 120), and games look amazing. With the Air Link being released in April (and I have it hooked up) it’s really an amazing unit. With the extended battery (I have a 10000mAH or something and I get about 6 hours of life on it).

        And believe me, I already had an issue with the Facebook to Oculus account joining (I didn’t want to use my main FB account) and two days later they locked my non-used account for being hacked. (!!!) Fortunately, I can still get in, use my apps, etc. But it’s still ridiculous!

        All in all, I’m glad I got it, I really like the unit a lot – I already use it more than my other VR sets. But, wow, if Valve offered a competing unit under $500, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

  • Sjaak Schulteis

    I never even considered buying another headset that needs wires. I don’t really need a standalone headset like the Quest 2 – though it is nice to have some games native on the Quest, I much prefer to play PCVR games and that wireless. There are headsets with better visuals than the quest, but I’m always amazed by the quality of the picture of the Q2. Sharp and clear.

  • Arno van Wingerde

    Dear Road to VR: can you please edit your steam headset marketshare graph, and group the HTC vive pro with the other HTC head sets – I have no clue what it is doing in the middle of the FB headsets.