SteamVR December 2022: WMR grows the most, but there's a catch
The sell-out of the HP Reverb G2 is reflected in the SteamVR stats. Pico 4 does not make up any ground on Quest 2 this month.
Valve's monthly hardware and software survey records all VR headsets that were connected to PCs with Steam installed in the respective month and whose users participate in the data collection. Among other things, the statistics show the share of SteamVR users in the total Steam user base.
The highest value recorded so far is 2.31 percent (May 2021). In November and December 2022, it was 2.03 percent. Assuming Steam had an average of 132 million monthly active users in 2021, SteamVR should have about 2.7 million users.
SteamVR results for December
The following statistics show the market shares of VR headsets covered by Steam in December 2022. Devices that have less than half a percent market share are not listed.
VR users who only use Meta platforms and Viveport and do not have Steam installed or do not participate in Steam data collection are not included in the statistics, nor are PSVR players and Meta Quest 1 & 2 users who only use their VR headset in standalone mode. Accordingly, the SteamVR statistics only reflect a fairly small part of the overall VR market.
| December 2022 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|
| Meta Quest 2 | 41,35 % | + 0,23 % |
| Valve Index | 17,24 % | - 0,29 % |
| Oculus Rift S | 13,41 % | + 0,04 % |
| HTC Vive | 7,05 % | + 0,02 % |
| Oculus Rift | 6,03 % | - 0,26 % |
| Windows Mixed Reality | 5,57 % | + 0,32 % |
| Meta Quest | 2,63 % | + 0,07 % |
| HTC Vive Pro | 1,51 % | + 0,08 % |
| HTC Vive Cosmos | 1,15 % | - 0,09 % |
| Pico 4 | 0,74 % | + 0,07 % |
| HTC Vive Pro 2 | 0,56 % | - 0,13 % |
| Pico Neo 3 | 0,50 % | - 0,15 % |
| SteamVR user base | 2,03 % | 0,00 % |
HP's VR sale affects SteamVR
Windows Mixed Reality made the strongest gains in December. That would be atypical had it not been for a sellout of the HP Reverb G2 WMR headset in the US. The device was flogged as a Black Friday deal for $300 in November. The regular price is 600 US dollars.
In contrast, the Pico 4, which was launched in October, performed weaker this month than in November, when it was the fastest-growing headset.
However, some Pico 4 devices may have been incorrectly attributed to Meta Quest 2. According to Virtual Desktop developer Guy Godin, Pico 4 headsets used on PCs via Virtual Desktop are being identified as Quest 2 devices.
SteamVR stats for January should give a clearer indication of what's happening in the market, as they better reflect demand during the holiday shopping season.
How often and intensively SteamVR headsets are used cannot be read from the monthly Steam survey. The following statistic is more suitable for that. It shows the monthly averages of the sum of the peak player numbers for each pure SteamVR game. This number reached a new high of 24,000 in January 2022 and dropped in the following months to around 17,000 in December.
Popular social apps with monitor support are not included in the statistics, but a trend can still be derived based on the games included, assuming that VR usage in apps not included fluctuates similarly.
Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.
