I’m sorry, but it’s not. Same as the alternative to a meat-based diet isn’t “have you tried starving?”. Only other inside-out tracking headsets are made by Apple and Pico (Bytedance). Both companies that are as bad as Meta. You can debate whether humanity needs VR/AR, but that’s a different topic. VR in it’s current state is driven by Meta.

I fully agree with you that Meta should not have the quasi monopoly that they have. But what’s the alternative?

As one of those gamers, the answer imho is quite simple: Ignoring the awful data practices of Meta, the Quest 2/3 as a product is great. Over the years, my Q2 kept improving, with constant updates, new features and general performance improvements. I just got a Q3, and the technological jump is enormous. Add to that the absolute lack of (affordable) alternatives, and you have an easy choice: recognize that Meta has done more for the VR space than anyone else, or don’t do VR.