Steam Hardware Survey - July 2025 results included (see latest post in this thread)

I have had steam turned off for months , so my VR headset won't show

kojack said:
......

Yep, plus unlike the Oculus hardware surveys, the Steam survey is only given to a random selection of people, not everybody. I've read that it may be weighted to be more likely to select people with recent hardware changes.

If Steam hasn't explicitly asked you to take part in the survey, your headset hasn't been counted.

This has been a complaint from the start - though it was overlooked when ever it favored one camp or another, and validates their perceived optics.  

For some time we have been suggesting that a more rational means to gauge the number of "operational" headsets in the consumer market is needed. The importance of this is not just to show which headset is leading, but so the smaller developers (and in many cases the AAA studios) can gauge if there is a market worth investing their limited resources to develop for. The "walled garden" approach to disseminating information on market penetration is by a mentality of "corporate secrets", when publicly claiming to encouraging the growth of a market, (unless you want to only fixate on your platform rather than the market as a whole).

For me the Valve Steam VR headset survey has to be taken with a "bag" of salt, with the extrapolations needed to be made for:

- This is a selective survey rather than a mass counting
- Only solicited users are completing surveys
- Multiple headset owners can only complete survey once
- There are individuals completing surveys who are not eligible
- Surveys have been sent out on occasion to picked users
- Numerous occasions fraudulent survey entries have been made
- Having to depend on the "Vampire [Valve] to manage the Blood-bank"!
- Only applies to headset users approached using Steam

As was said on another forum - using the Steam survey to gauge the penetration of VR into the consumer market is like using Alcoholics Anonymous to guess how many pubs there are!

But as the man said, its the best we have till the next thing comes along!

kojack said:

Valve are fixing up the VR hardware survey.

https://www.roadtovr.com/valve-tweaks-steam-survey-accurately-count-vr-headsets-pimax/?platform=hootsuite

They are changing it to include every headset you've had connected during the last month, instead of just the one that is plugged in when the survey is taken.

They are also going to include more headsets, including Pimax and even PSVR (which apparently you can use with Steam with some third party tools).

The story doesn't say if more people will get the survey.

Did see that Valve added more hmds a few days ago - and new colors - new numbers caused the amount of hmds connected to rise from 0.97% to 1.01 % - so for now no big changes (Quest is now included, but 0.05% seems too low...?):

Nice, I just complained about that a few posts up on march 20th. I only have 1 HDMI port on my GPU so I normally utilize it for other things when I'm not playing VR. 

I wonder if Steam can see my CV1 sensors - these and the Index are always connected, but I've deactivated the usb-port connecting the CV1 hmd when I use SteamVR. Probably won't skew March survey results much though, lol. 

RuneSR2 said:

kojack said:

Valve are fixing up the VR hardware survey.

https://www.roadtovr.com/valve-tweaks-steam-survey-accurately-count-vr-headsets-pimax/?platform=hootsuite

They are changing it to include every headset you've had connected during the last month, instead of just the one that is plugged in when the survey is taken.

They are also going to include more headsets, including Pimax and even PSVR (which apparently you can use with Steam with some third party tools).

The story doesn't say if more people will get the survey.

Did see that Valve added more hmds a few days ago - and new colors - new numbers caused the amount of hmds connected to rise from 0.97% to 1.01 % - so for now no big changes (Quest is now included, but 0.05% seems too low...?):

Same amount of Quest users connected to steam VR as did PSVR users, does not look right seeing as the Quest is just one cable and you are off, whereas to get the PSVR to offer up its limited 3DOF on the PC is a pain in itself....so call me Susan and slap me with a wet kipper if these figures don't end up being way off target. lol

kojack said:

Valve are fixing up the VR hardware survey.

https://www.roadtovr.com/valve-tweaks-steam-survey-accurately-count-vr-headsets-pimax/?platform=hootsuite

.....

The story doesn't say if more people will get the survey.

Nice to see that Valve was force to listen to the criticisms. Funny we outlined these issues a few posts back, the time must be right for them to bite the bullet. I wonder if its the successful reception of HL:A that forced their arm. With all of the key management of Valve out of the US at the moment, I wonder if this was a move planned to happen or was forced on them?

I'm quite surprised that the Rift S is selling more than three times as much as the Index. Makes you wonder how much it would have sold if Valve hadn't blatantly taken the piss with their price gouging for their base stations and Index controllers. :o

snowdog said:

I'm quite surprised that the Rift S is selling more than three times as much as the Index. Makes you wonder how much it would have sold if Valve hadn't blatantly taken the piss with their price gouging for their base stations and Index controllers. :o

Understand your resentment of the brand @snowdog but is it really "gouging" [meaning overcharge or swindle]?

The company selling a new concept controller into the market - there is no similar system (making it unique), and is part of a "premium" VR experience. The same way that the Pimax and the Varjo are "premium" VR experiences and charge a high price. Also many people felt that the Lighthouse tech was superior to the alternatives, and so could be sold at a higher price (though to be frank the price of a new Lighthouse setup was cheaper than a three camera constellation!)

Just because you don't like the price (or the company) seems rash to jump in and call them swindlers unless you know they are profiteering from the bill of goods, and if you know that can you point us to the source?