You Can Now Play PC VR Games on Your Meta Quest Headset With Steam Link

Credit: Sachin Bahal

When it comes to VR headsets right now, there are Meta’s Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro, and then there’s everything else. You already know you can use the Meta Quest devices to play bespoke VR games like Beat Saber and Among Us VR, but if you have a powerful gaming PC, you can now more easily play demanding PC-based VR titles on your Quest headset with minimal fuss.

Previously in order to play PC VR titles on your Meta Quest, you needed to use a compatible Quest Link USB-C cable to connect your headset to your PC. Barring that, you could use the built-in Air Link feature to wirelessly connect your headset to your PC over wifi or by using a third-party app like Virtual Desktop.

However, Valve recently launched the Steam Link app for Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro, which offers an easier way to connect your headset wirelessly to your PC. This is especially useful if most of the PC VR titles you’ve bought were via Steam.

Products to consider:

Looking to pick up a new Meta Quest headset? You can buy the Meta Quest 2, 3, or Pro on Amazon:

Meta Quest 2 ($249 on sale)

Meta Quest 3 ($499)

Meta Quest Pro ($929.13 on sale)

Requirements to use Steam Link

To use Steam Link, you’ll need to check if your PC meets Valve’s minimum requirements. First, Valve says your PC should be wired to your router for better connectivity, while you should connect your headset to a 5GHz wifi network. Other minimum specs include an NVIDIA GPU (GTX970 or better) and Windows 10 (or newer).

Of course, those are just minimum requirements. Valve’s recommended PC specs for Steam Link include an internet connection with Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E support, 16GB of RAM, and a Nvidia RTX 2070 GPU or better.

Getting started with Steam Link

You can start using Steam Link on your Meta Quest headset in a few quick steps. The first is to make sure Steam and SteamVR are installed on your PC. There’s a chance you might need to restart Steam to make sure you’re on the latest version of both programs. After that, make sure your Meta Quest headset is connected to the same network as your PC.

On your headset, download the Steam Link app. Once you open the app, it will look for your PC running SteamVR. Once it finds your PC, press the green Connect button. You’ll then be given a four-digit code, which you’ll need to enter into a pop-up on your PC.

Credit: Sachin Bahal

After you’ve paired your PC with the Steam Link app, the app wirelessly connect to your PC and open the Steam VR environment. Here, you’ll be able to launch all the installed VR games on your PC. You can also play non-VR games that you have installed on your PC on a virtual big screen.