The number of people using a VR headset on Steam ostensibly significantly decreased in February, according to Valve’s data, but the figure isn’t what it seems.
As listed in Valve’s Steam Hardware & Software Survey results for February, just 1.05% of Steam users used a VR headset, an almost halving compared to January. So did PC VR just suddenly become significantly less popular, or is there another reason?
That reason, as another figure in the survey reveals, is Chinese New Year.
Chinese New Year is a national holiday that lasts nine days, this year running from Feb 15 to Feb 23, with celebrations lasting upwards of fifteen days. That is a sizable chunk of time for the world’s second largest population to be off work.
Every February, Steam sees a massive spike in Chinese users that returns to normal in March. In February 2026, the predominant language of Steam users was Simplified Chinese, jumping a whopping 30.74% points up to 54.60% of overall Steam users. English, comparatively, dropped 14.74% to second place at 22.27% of users overall. This is a yearly anomaly, not a trend.
China has a massive gaming market, estimated at half a billion players. However, it has a far lower rate of PC VR usage, and gaming internet cafes (without the option for VR) remain very popular in the country. Put the two together and the drop in percentage of SteamVR users makes sense.
Expect this statistic to return to normal in March and April’s surveys – as it does every year. And adjusting for Chinese users, as seen in the graph above, the drop disappears even in February.
David Heaney
The real SteamVR usage trend we’ll be tracking this year is the impact of Valve’s Steam Frame. For a long time now, the top 4 VR headsets used on Steam – Quest 3, Quest 2, Quest 3S, and Valve Index – haven’t changed, and combined they account for around 80% of PC VR’s users. Will Steam Frame finally change the mix, and if so how long will it take?
We suspect much of that will depend on its price.
