What you need to know
- The Meta Quest 3 is now used by 5.2% of SteamVR users in November 2023, growing 5.05% during the month.
- The Quest 3 hasn't been out for two months, yet it's already in the top five.
- Meta Quest 2 sales spiked in November due to Black Friday sales but usage on Steam only increased 0.75%.
While it's too early to call it a win for Meta for the year, early sales numbers on the Meta Quest 3 seem incredibly positive. Despite being twice the price of the Meta Quest 2 — a deal that continues until the end of the year — the Quest 3 has already secured a spot in the top 5 most used VR headsets on SteamVR in November 2023.
Steam surveys random users every month to assess the hardware distribution across the platform. These numbers don't represent all SteamVR users, though. Rather, they only represent the number of folks surveyed.
Steam has been using this methodology for years, and the growth rate lines up with that of the Meta Quest 2, despite the price difference between it and the Meta Quest 3. In November 2020 — roughly the same time frame after the launch of the Quest 2 — Steam hardware surveys showed growth of the Oculus Quest at 5.53%.
At the time, Steam didn't separate the Oculus Quest from the Oculus Quest 2 and, instead, combined the numbers. If we combine the Quest 2 and Quest 3's growth on Steam in November 2023, it adds up to 5.8%, meaning Meta's adoption numbers look even better this time around. Still, the Quest 2 represents nearly half of VR headsets used on Steam, at least according to those surveyed.
While it's curious to see the Quest 2 grow at the same time the Quest 3's market share grew, it's entirely likely that incredible holiday sales brought lots of new Quest 2 users to the platform. In other words, Quest 2 users are likely upgrading to the Quest 3, but even more Quest 2 users are replacing those folks.
During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the Meta Quest 2 outsold the Nintendo Switch on Amazon. A huge part of that is likely due to the incredible price, which was $249 — $50 off the normal price — plus sites like Amazon were handing out $50 gift cards with each purchase.
It's entirely likely that we'll continue to see both the Quest 2 and Quest 3's SteamVR usage numbers rise in December, both thanks to Christmas and the fact that Steam Link is now an official Meta Quest app.
Sure, it's the "old" headset but it's hard to argue with buying one at half the price of the Quest 3. Plus, Meta has committed to at least another three years of software updates for the system, meaning it'll still be a great buy for a long time to come.
