Valve just launched a free official Steam Link app on Meta Quest.
The app, which is on the official Quest Store and approved by Meta, lets you wirelessly play SteamVR games like Half-Life: Alyx on your Quest 2, Quest Pro, or Quest 3 by streaming from your gaming PC over your home Wi-Fi network. You can also play your traditional non-VR Steam games on a giant virtual screen.
On Quest Pro the headset’s face and eye tracking is passed through to VRChat via OSC, and eye tracking is also used to prioritize video streaming encoding to where you’re currently looking.
Of course, Quest headsets can already do wireless PC VR streaming. Quest has had a built-in feature called Air Link since 2021, and from the launch of the original Oculus Quest in 2019 it was already possible via unofficial third-party apps like Guy Godin’s Virtual Desktop. Godin frequently updates his app with new improvements that make it the preferred choice for many PC VR users, so we’re eager to compare the streaming quality of Steam Link.
Virtual Desktop’s Developer Reacts To Steam Link For Quest
Read Virtual Desktop creator Guy Godin’s reaction to the official release of Steam Link for Quest.
But whereas Meta’s Air Link requires installing and running the abandoned Oculus PC app and Virtual Desktop requires installing and running the Virtual Desktop PC streamer, Valve’s solution only requires you to have Steam and SteamVR installed on your PC. It offers a direct unmediated connection to SteamVR, for free.
