The Meta Quest 2, formerly known as the Oculus Quest 2, is massively more popular than other VR headsets, according to the Steam Hardware Survey. The value-oriented VR headset is the headset of choice for 46% of the users surveyed, which has it far surpassing the second-highest headset, the high-end Valve Index, with a 14% share.
The Meta Quest 2's share is up a little over 6% from December 2021, as noted by PCGamesN, further amplifying the headset's dominance in the PC VR space.
Data from the hardware survey isn't the be-all and end-all in accuracy, but as a general snapshot of user behaviour, it's as good as it gets. In this case, there's no denying that Meta's headset is continuing to dominate new VR headset sales.
The data from the Steam Hardware survey suggests that Meta's popular gaming headset sold well over the holiday and sale period, with a sharper uptick in market share for January's survey. That's not surprising considering the Quest 2's availability over the period, which was surprisingly good considering the global semiconductor shortages, but also in that it's a fair bit cheaper than other options and does not require a gaming PC to run.
For Meta, the value and reach of the Quest 2 is surely more a question of building towards its bewildering view of a future in the metaverse than it is ensuring Super Hot VR is in every gamer's hands. Though in the meantime it's a great gaming device—the best VR headset—in our books, and undoubtedly great value. The tech specs of this device are surprisingly fantastic for its $299 starting price.
And while the $1,000 Valve Index is by far the best VR experience I've ever had, the Quest 2 is far smaller of a commitment, and has only improved since launch.
Though we're still talking about a tiny fraction of Steam users with VR headsets today: just 2.14%. That's up 0.21% month on month, and is actually rather a lot of people considering Steam's 20–30 million daily users, but there's a long way to go before a VR headset is in every gamer's arsenal.
