Steam Link was recently announced as coming to the Meta Quest 3, supporting a fully wireless connection between your gaming PC and Quest 3 headset. This is a huge win for VR gaming because it shuts down a big, wired barrier that was stopping people from enjoying everything that VR has to offer.
Some of the best Meta Quest 3 games started, or still currently are exclusive to the headset, and this limits what the studios could achieve if they were also available on Steam. This goes both ways with a game as important to VR as Half-Life: Alyx.
It’s imperative that VR doesn’t follow the lead of home consoles, locking certain games away behind pointless exclusivity deals. Okay, I know they’re not pointless to the marketing teams, but to us gamers, they are nothing but a pain.
There have always been ways to link up your Quest headset and Steam library, but these have rarely been wireless, or as simple as downloading an app and entering a pairing code. Now, the VR marketplace has opened up entirely, and it’s all thanks to the Steam Link app.
Is it perfect? No. My personal experience was spotty, often having to tweak certain settings moving between my play space and gaming PC, but this is a small roadblock that will eventually pass with updates as the app becomes more stable.
More importantly, my Meta Quest 3 now has access to a whole new library of games, some of which I couldn’t play natively on my Quest 3. Better still, if a game is available on both Steam and Meta, I can now wait for the right price between two storefronts to ensure I only pay the price I’m comfortable with.
I recently looked at the increased popularity of the Meta Quest 3 with Steam users and prophesized that it will eventually take over as the most popular headset sometime in the future. With the addition of Steam Link, this all but guarantees it. VR gaming seems to forever be on the verge of a boom, and this deal is another big move forward that hopefully sees the adoption rate of VR increase on Steam.
If you’ve got a VR headset and are looking for games to play, check out our guide to the best VR games of 2023 for some inspiration.