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Steam Frame Climbs to 4.13% of Steam VR Use

The Steam Frame ranks sixth among Steam VR headsets after its September 2026 release, though its 256 GB and 1 TB models remain backordered.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Computers

Bold vector editorial illustration of a single matte-black VR headset in profile with a coral lens cutaway, centered on a plain cream field.
Valve's Steam Frame VR headset reached 4.13% of Steam VR usage in October 2026, up from 0.41% in September, after its September 18 release. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Valve's Steam Frame accounted for 4.13% of VR headset usage on Steam in October 2026, up from 0.41% in September, after preorders opened September 14 and the device officially released September 18, 2026. The figures come from Steam's opt-in monthly Hardware Survey, so the device is shipped and in users' hands rather than announced.

Why it matters

The jump moves the Steam Frame from a newcomer to the sixth most popular VR headset on Steam, ahead of the Oculus Rift S and PS VR2 in that survey. Its growth reflects continued October sales and shipping times, showing how quickly a new standalone headset can gain share once it reaches buyers.

The figures come from an opt-in monthly survey of Steam users, so they reflect Steam's installed base rather than total VR sales. The 4.13% share sits against a 0.41% baseline one month earlier, and the Steam Frame now trails the Meta Quest 3 by 24.14 percentage points.

The players

Valve

Valve operates the Steam platform and its Hardware Survey, and designed the Steam Frame as a VR headset sold through that storefront.

Meta

Meta makes the Quest line of standalone VR headsets, and the Meta Quest 3 is the most popular headset on Steam by usage share.

The details

The Steam Frame is a VR headset sold through Steam, and its usage share is tallied by Steam's Hardware Survey, a voluntary monthly poll that counts which devices active Steam users run. Usage is measured as a share of all VR headsets reporting to the survey, so a rise in share means more Steam VR sessions are coming from this device relative to competitors. The survey does not report unit sales, so the figures describe how often the headset is used on the platform rather than how many have shipped.

Timeline

  1. September 14, 2026: Steam Frame preorders went live.

  2. September 18, 2026: Steam Frame officially released.

  3. October 2026: Steam Frame usage rose to 4.13% of VR headset usage.

The Tech Race

The Steam Frame's rapid climb puts Valve in direct competition with Meta's Quest 3 for the largest share of Steam VR users. Its position just behind the Pico 4 shows how quickly a newly released headset can overtake established devices on the platform.

Preorders opened September 14, 2026, and the device released September 18, 2026, but the 256 GB and 1 TB models are backordered, so buyers wanting those capacities face delays. The survey data does not give timing for when backorders will clear.

The takeaway

The Steam Frame's gains show a new standalone headset can climb quickly once it reaches buyers, but the backorders limit how fast that growth can continue. Watch the November Steam Hardware Survey to see whether its share holds above 4% as backlogs clear.

Further reading

Explore more Computers coverage for context on how new hardware reaches the market.

Source note: This article includes information reported by Pcgamer.