Following an initial sales drought, the new Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset appears to be finally kicking off. Despite low interest at launch, the Meta Quest 3 is finally being adopted by PCVR users on Steam.
The Meta Quest 3 headset’s low sales saw Meta heavily reduce supplies of the new device just before launch. However, with AAA-exclusive Asgard’s Wrath 2 on the horizon and easy PCVR support via Steam Link, the new headset is now in vogue.
Via UploadVR, the Meta Quest 3 headset is now one of the most used devices on Steam, a massive improvement over the minuscule number of headsets earlier this year. While just over a month ago the headset was used by 0.15% of players, it’s now used by over 5%.
Of course, this is still far below the adoption rate of the Meta Quest 2 which is the most popular headset on the platform. The Meta Quest 2 headset is the device of choice with a 40.45% adoption rate. This is followed by the Valve Index at 18.65%, the Rift S at 9.69% and the HTC Vive at 5.60%.
As a new entry in the VR race, the Meta Quest 3’s 5th place finish is remarkably impressive. For a device that suffered from poor marketing and a lack of interest on launch, the new Quest’s vast improvements over its predecessor are finally being noticed.
However, while the Quest 3 is proving more popular over time, the VR audience is still failing to grow on Steam. For the past three years, the number of gamers using a VR headset on the platform has remained largely stagnant, leading to some concerns over the viability of the platform.
Nevertheless, standalone VR headsets like the Meta Quest 2, Quest 3 and the ill-fated Quest Pro are still the most viable headsets outside of the PCVR space. While platforms like ByteDance’s Pico series create great hardware, the software support is lacking with exclusives like Just Dance VR now heading Meta’s way.
The Meta Quest 3 is available right now at most major tech retailers.