PC VR is Alive and Kicking: SteamVR's Biggest Festival Celebrates the Ecosystem
In a market increasingly dominated by the standalone convenience of headsets like the Meta Quest, it’s easy to fall for the narrative that PC VR is a dying niche. But the PC VR community, much like the broader PC gaming world it belongs to, is proving to be resilient, creative, and incredibly vibrant. The new VR Forever Awards and the accompanying SteamVR festival—billed as the largest ever with over 130 titles—are a powerful testament to that fact.
A Community-Powered Celebration
Organized by VR studio Creature (the minds behind The Light Brigade) and Future Friends Games, this event is a pure celebration of the platform. It’s not just about looking forward, but also about honoring the games and developers that have defined the last decade of virtual reality. The festival features discounts on beloved classics like Tetris Effect: Connected, Synth Riders, and Walkabout Mini Golf, alongside demos and announcements for new and upcoming titles.
What makes this feel special is its community-centric spirit. The awards were judged not by a corporate marketing team, but by a panel of genuine experts and creators from across the VR space, including folks from Owlchemy Labs and Flat2VR Studios. It’s an event by the community, for the community.
Why This Matters for Linux
For those of us who believe in the power and openness of the PC platform, this is more than just a game sale. It’s a sign of a healthy ecosystem. For Linux gamers in particular, a thriving SteamVR environment is absolutely critical. While the standalone headsets operate in their closed, walled gardens, SteamVR remains the primary gateway for high-end virtual reality on open-source operating systems.
A strong PC VR market encourages developers to support the platform, which in turn benefits initiatives like Proton and the ongoing efforts to improve VR performance on Linux. Seeing over 130 games come together for a festival like this is a clear signal that developers are not abandoning PC VR.
So, while the headlines may be dominated by the latest standalone gadget, don’t count PC VR out. It remains the frontier for graphical fidelity, performance, and user freedom. The VR Forever Festival is a welcome reminder that the spirit of PC gaming is alive and well, even in the virtual world.
