SteamVR data analysis June 2022: PC VR cannot escape the niche
No, SteamVR does not have 4 million VR users. Valve probably miscalculated in May.
Valve's monthly hardware and software survey covers all VR headsets that were connected to PCs with a Steam installation at least once in the respective month and whose users participate in the survey. Among other things, the statistics show the percentage of SteamVR users in the total Steam user base.
The highest value recorded to date is 2.31 percent (May 2021). In May 2022, it jumped from 1.89 to 3.24 percent. Assuming Steam had an average of 132 million monthly active users last year, that would be an increase of 1.8 million SteamVR users in one month (estimated total: 4.3 million) - a jump that can't be easily explained.
Had Valve miscalculated and made a correction to the statistics, or was the figure simply wrong? One month later, we know: the number has dropped again to 1.87 percentage points. This means that the number in the May statistics was wrong. 1.87 percent corresponds to about 2.5 million SteamVR users.
Meta Quest 2 has almost 50 percent market share
The following statistics show the market shares of VR headsets tracked by Steam in May and June 2022. Devices that have less than one percent market share are not listed.
VR users who only use Meta/Oculus 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. Meta Quest 1 & 2 users who only use their VR headset in standalone mode are also not included. Accordingly, the SteamVR statistics only reflect a small part of the entire virtual reality market.
| May 2022 | June 2022 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Quest 2 | 47,99 % | 49,02 % | + 1,03 % |
| Valve Index | 15,79 % | 15,57 % | - 0,22 % |
| Oculus Rift S | 10,94 % | 10,60 % | - 0,35 % |
| HTC Vive | 6,86 % | 6,53 % | - 0,32 % |
| Windows Mixed Reality | 4,58 % | 4,60 % | + 0,03 % |
| Oculus Rift | 3,67 % | 3,57 % | - 0,09 % |
| Meta Quest | 3,77 % | 3,49 % | - 0,28 % |
| HTC Vive Pro | 1,62 % | 1,67 % | + 0,06 % |
| HTC Vive Cosmos | 1,54 % | 1,54 % | - 0,00 % |
| SteamVR user base | 3,24 % | 1,87 % | - 1,37 % |
In June, most VR headsets lost market share, with only Meta Quest 2 gaining again and moving further towards the 50 percent mark. Meta's market share has settled at 66 percent, or two-thirds of all SteamVR headsets, in recent months.
The Pico Neo 3 Link (review), which launched in Europe in May, came in at 0.74 percent in June, up 0.11 percentage points from May. The potential Quest 2 competition thus got off to a weak start in the market and is hardly reflected in the statistics.
Everything stays the same for PC VR
Valve’s survey data does not tell us how often and intensively the SteamVR headsets are used. The following statistic, which shows the monthly average of maximum concurrent SteamVR users, gives a better clue.
This number reached a new high of 24,000 in January 2022, which dropped again in the following months and was around 16,000 players in June. By comparison, Skyrim Special Edition averaged around 20,000 concurrent players in the last 30 days, and The Sims 4 averaged around 15,000.
The PC VR market is still niche after six years: There are more people playing Steam games with macOS than with VR headsets (2.45 vs. 1.87 percent of the total Steam user base).
The Playstation VR 2 could bring some momentum back into the high-end VR market and satisfy PC VR fans with one or two polished titles. It would be even better if Valve launched a VR headset that plays SteamVR games independently and thus competes with Meta Quest 2.
Only Valve knows if and when this will happen.
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