Steam Frame Standalone Tests Reveal Major VR Performance Differences

Steam Frame testing reveals how optimized standalone VR games can deliver higher visual quality and performance than expected.

Steam Frame’s standalone capabilities are becoming clearer as more games are tested on the headset. Red Matter 2 has now been officially Frame Verified, while other PC VR games show varying performance when running directly on the hardware. The testing also highlights how much the performance mode can change the experience.

We also tested the light blocker that comes with Steam Frame’s ergonomic kit. There have been reports that using the light blocker seals in more airflow from the headset’s fans, and therefore your eyes can potentially become dry. After using the headset with the light blocker for around 6 hours, there is a small bit of truth to this.

Steam Frame Ergonomic Kit and Light Blocker

Personally, it did not cause any major discomfort. A couple of times, my eyes suddenly felt a little itchy, and it became clear I needed to blink a little more. However, without specifically looking for this issue, it probably would not have been noticeable. The light blocker also adds more to the immersion.

With the overhead strap, controller grips, and now the light blocker, the ergonomic kit is something worth considering for Steam Frame buyers. That could change as more third-party accessories become available. Red Matter 2 launched at the lowest performance settings, which made the game look poor. 

Performance was poor; the image looked rough, and although the area you were looking at appeared fine because of eye-tracked foveated rendering, everything outside that area was clearly pixelated. This was because Steam Frame was left on its lowest performance settings after being configured to maximize battery life while using wireless PC VR.

More PC VR Games Tested on Steam Frame

The glove materials looked detailed, and the overall image looked clean. Red Matter 2 demonstrates what Steam Frame can do as a standalone VR headset, at least visually. The key point is that the game renders locally inside the headset. What you see is what Steam Frame can render natively. For standalone games, performance mode makes a major difference.

If battery life isn't the priority because you're using an external battery pack, keeping Steam Frame in performance mode can provide a different experience. After Red Matter 2, we tested Half-Life 2 VR as another standalone game. After being played on PC VR at 144hz, the lower frame rate on Steam Frame initially seemed disappointing. After a few minutes, however, the difference became less noticeable.

Steam Frame could take that idea further by letting players play the same game on a gaming PC, continue it in standalone mode on Steam Frame, and potentially continue it on Steam Deck. That creates three ways to play the same game using the same Steam account and one save file.

The original Batman: Arkham VR would not run on Steam Frame. Exoshock technically ran, but the visuals were poor. Air Car, which is known for its PC VR visuals, also ran poorly. PC VR version of Beat Saber was different. It looked and played well on Steam Frame. Dungeons of Eternity, which is also Steam Frame Verified, was another game that performed well.

The experience was better than the Quest 3 version and closer to the PC VR version. Arizona Sunshine 2 also provided some room for adjustment. Depending on the number of zombies on screen, you could increase the render scale and anti-aliasing. The game could look good with the right settings, although the frame rate remained an issue.

Some Frame Verified games are locked to 72hz reprojection.

The reprojection system appears to produce less noticeable screen tearing than Meta’s Asynchronous Spacewarp. There is a clear difference between being able to launch a PC VR game on Steam Frame and having a game properly optimized and verified for the hardware. Red Matter 2 changes what you can expect from Steam Frame as a standalone headset.

Before this testing, standalone capabilities could be seen as on par with Quest 3 or as a lesser experience. However, when a developer puts in the effort to get the most from Steam Frame’s standalone capabilities, the result can be very different. Red Matter 2 shows that properly optimized software can make a major difference in what the headset can deliver.