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Oculus Rift Is Now the Most Popular VR Headset On Steam (venturebeat.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the neck-and-neck dept.

The Oculus Rift has overtaken the HTC Vive on the monthly Steam hardware survey for the first time since the launch of both headsets in early 2016. VentureBeat reports: The survey is entirely optional and scans a user's PC for various hardware components, including any VR headsets that may be connected. After a few months of catching up to Vive, the Rift was neck-and-neck with its rival in January's survey with 0.9 percent between the two. However, February saw Oculus step past HTC; Rift took 47.31 percent of the total hardware use, and Vive fell to 45.38 percent, leaving just under 2 percent between them. It's still a tight race, then, but this is the first time Rift has managed to surpass Vive. Again, this is in no way confirmation that the Oculus Rift has sold more units than the HTC Vive, as neither headset has had official sales figures released, but it's the best shot we've got at gauging the market share right now. Rift also took the "Most Popular Headset" space in Steam's individual listings for the second time ever.

5 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Killer App by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I haven't followed the VR scene much, but is there actually a killer app for it yet? I know there were some impressive tech demos, but from what I've heard there aren't any games that offer a truly compelling VR experience to make buying now (as opposed to waiting for generation 2 or 3 hardware) for any reason beyond technology lust necessary.

    1. Re: Killer App by JThundley · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Elite: Dangerous is one of the best VR games.

  2. Subnautica by Wraithlyn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I would say Subnautica is pretty close to a "must play" killer-app for VR. As in, the VR experience itself is incredibly compelling... swimming and piloting submersibles is a perfect fit for VR, and it's a gorgeous world to explore (and a fantastic game to boot).

    Unfortunately the VR has quite a few rough edges when it comes to the UI. Hopefully they will fix these, as with a bit of polish I wouldn't hesitate to call Subnautica the first VR gaming masterpiece.

    Elite Dangerous is also decent if you're into it, but it's certainly not for everyone.

    --
    "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
  3. Video Cards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    with all the mining where the fudge are we supposed to get the video cards to run VR?

  4. And Samsung GearVR has sold more than both.. by ihaveamo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder if people running a GearVR (or even cheap cardboard), and running a VR tool such as Vridge/Riftcat come up as in those STEAM tech specs, and if it's enough to skew the results? You may laugh, but GearVR is the gateway drug that will push VR forward. Don't think it's just a cheap "Cardboard" knock-off. It's got oculus positional electronics in it, and coupled with a new Galaxy/Note, you actually get a HIGHER resolution than an HTC Vive or Rift. Sure, it's missing positional head-tracking and room-scale, and only 60fps, and not 90fps .. and is a bit technical to set up with vRidge and some webcams, but for close to $nothing$ you can get quite an immersive experience. (Vridge allows HTC Vive / oculous shimming through GearVR) If you're a nerd and own a Galaxy8 or note8 - go get a GearVR, download vridge, dust off a couple of old ps3 move controllers, and you've got a cheap Vive/rift roomscale VR system.