Valve's Steam Frame recorded a sharp increase in usage during its first full month on the market, entering the top ten most popular VR headsets tracked by Steam's Hardware Survey. The headset represented 4.13% of reported VR headset usage in October, up from 0.41% in September.
That 3.72 percentage-point increase moved the Steam Frame into sixth place. It surpassed the Oculus Rift S, Sony PS VR2, HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality and the original Oculus Rift. The device remains just 0.37 points behind the Pico 4, which holds 4.5%.
Meta's Quest 3 continues to lead the ranking with 27.27% of usage, while the Oculus Quest 2 follows at 22.23%. The Meta Quest 3S accounts for 11.04%, and the Valve Index HMD holds fourth place with 9.9%.
The Steam Frame officially launched on September 18, following the opening of preorders on September 14. However, some buyers may have received their headsets later because of shipping times, meaning October's increase may reflect both continued sales and delayed deliveries.
Both the 256 GB and 1 TB versions are currently backordered, with new customers placed on a waiting list. Based on the available figures, usage of the headset may continue to rise as more units reach buyers.
The largest decline in October belonged to the Oculus Quest 2, which fell by 3.57 percentage points. The Valve Index also dropped by 0.93 points, while most other devices in the top ten saw smaller changes.
Valve's Hardware Survey is optional and covers only a portion of Steam users, so its monthly figures provide an estimate rather than a complete count of headset usage. Even with that limitation, the Steam Frame's early rise gives Valve's latest VR hardware a strong initial position on the platform.
Sources: PC Gamer.