Link up! Meta Quest headsets just got a massive upgrade for PCVR gaming

Steam Link for Meta Quest headsets
(Image credit: Laptop Mag / Rael Hornby)

The stand-alone gaming experience of the Meta/Oculus Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro is impressive, but Meta's platform can only go so far. While impressive for the cost of entry, the Quest's hardware is still limited. Thankfully, Meta's headset has a secret weapon: PVCR compatibility.

There's no denying that the best VR experiences will stem from the PCVR market, which offers top-tier graphics, smoother performance, and a wider selection of titles to enjoy. That's why the Meta/Oculus Quest headsets have been ideal devices for a best-of-both-worlds approach to VR.

However, just because PCVR gaming has been possible, doesn't mean it's been easy. More often than not Quest users have had to strike the perfect balance of making use of SteamVR, the not-particularly-splendid Oculus PC client, and the actually splendid Virtual Desktop made by developer Guy Godin. And not to mention forking out up to $80 on a reliable link cable.

Until now that is. Valve has recently released Steam Link for all Quest headsets, your one-stop solution to wireless PCVR gaming. Steam Link is now available for free on the Oculus/Meta store and will allow users to directly stream SteamVR titles from their PC or laptop directly to their Quest headset quickly and easily.

To make use of Steam Link both devices need to be on the same 5Ghz network (to avoid any unnecessary lag, make sure that your laptop or PC is connected by ethernet to your wireless router), you need to have a machine outfitted with a GTX970 or better GPU, and be running Windows 10 or above.

Outlook

With SteamVR installed on your host machine and Steam Link on your Quest headset, you'll be able to stream your favorite PVCR titles instantly and effortlessly. There's no better time to give this a shot either, as today marks the opening of Steam's VR Fest — a week-long celebration of PCVR gaming featuring incredible discounts and demos kicking off at 1 p.m. ET.

The launch of Steam Link on Quest is great news for aspiring PCVR gamers, and brings about one of the most direct ways to enjoy top titles on Meta's VR headset without needing to jump through any hoops along the way. It's been a long time coming, but as Quest owners we can finally enjoy a direct feed to our VR library in the easiest way possible. 

Rael Hornby
Content Editor

Rael Hornby, potentially influenced by far too many LucasArts titles at an early age, once thought he’d grow up to be a mighty pirate. However, after several interventions with close friends and family members, you’re now much more likely to see his name attached to the bylines of tech articles. While not maintaining a double life as an aspiring writer by day and indie game dev by night, you’ll find him sat in a corner somewhere muttering to himself about microtransactions or hunting down promising indie games on Twitter.

Read more
Picture of a Valve VR headset (Index) on the Valve Index logo with the words Valve Deckard appearing on a blue backdrop.
Valve's Deckard VR headset sounds like a Steam Deck with a head strap, and that's a very good thing
Valve Steam Deck showing the Nvidia GeForce NOW cloud-based game streaming service.
Nvidia GeForce NOW just made the Steam Deck and Quest 3 headsets gaming powerhouses
The Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3s headsets sitting on a couch and coffee table with two pairs of controllers
VR headsets are mainstream, and I'm tired of pretending they're not
3D render of a person wearing a Meta Quest 3 VR/Mixed Reality headset tripping over an extension cable in a cluttered living room.
12 rules for life every Meta Quest owner should know
Image of XREAL Air 2 AR glasses, wearable displays that use bird bath optics to superimpose content into your field of vision, in red showing a 3/4 rear view of the optics and frames on a teal backdrop with the words 'XREAL Air 2' repeated in the background.
You should swap your work or gaming monitor for a pair of AR glasses, and I'm not joking
Meta Quest 3 pancake lens breakdown
The ROG Ally dominates the handheld gaming space, can Asus do the same with VR headsets?
Latest in VR
Man wearing Google Glass
Google may ressurect the most loathed smart glasses ever — and I couldn't be happier
Project Moohan mixed reality headset
Samsung's Vision Pro alternative may bury its best feature under a ridiculous price tag
Picture of a Valve VR headset (Index) on the Valve Index logo with the words Valve Deckard appearing on a blue backdrop.
Valve's Deckard VR headset sounds like a Steam Deck with a head strap, and that's a very good thing
Photo of VITURE Pro XR Glasses on a desk.
These AR glasses brought my guilty pleasure back from the dead, and it's straight-up wizardry
Image of XREAL Air 2 AR glasses, wearable displays that use bird bath optics to superimpose content into your field of vision, in red showing a 3/4 rear view of the optics and frames on a teal backdrop with the words 'XREAL Air 2' repeated in the background.
You should swap your work or gaming monitor for a pair of AR glasses, and I'm not joking
Apple Vision Pro EyeSight
Apple reveals new Vision Pro features, one stands out above the rest
Latest in News
A close-up of a light-colored computer keyboard shows the keys T, Y, G, and H replaced by the logos of OpenAI, DeepSeek, Grok, and Gemini, the leading competitors in the artificial intelligence market. This serves as a visual metaphor for the intense rivalry and innovation in the AI industry. (Photo by Matteo Della Torre/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Is generative AI inadvertently reducing the voices of many to the banality of one?
Asus ROG Ally Z1 on a brown table with the game Unpacking played on screen.
Handheld gaming PCs have a Windows problem — but maybe not for long
WWDC 2025 could mark the beginning of the end for certain iPhone users
Error when installing Google Chrome on the Asus Vivobook 16 Flip, on a white desk against a blue background.
"This app can't run on your PC": Google's Chrome Installer broke on Windows, but there's a fix
Nintendo Switch 2 handheld gaming console
Nintendo Switch 2 preorder date: It might be a lot closer than you think, say tipsters
Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th Edition, 2024)
Windows-on-Arm woes: Amazon warns customers about Surface laptop returns