Steam Frame price leak is bad news if you were hoping for an affordable VR headset
Get ready to pay four figures for the Steam Frame
👀 One insider has given his verdict on what the Steam Frame could cost
😬 Tyler McVicker’s sources have suggested it could start at $1100
💰 This goes above Valve’s original plan to sell the Steam Frame for less than the $999 it charged for the Index
🤞 McVicker also thinks we could get an announcement as early as today, and thinks Valve is overdue to give more official information on the Steam Frame
We might have just gotten our first leak for the Steam Frame’s price, and it isn’t looking good if you were hoping for a more affordable VR headset.
As per insider Tyler McVicker (via NotebookCheck), his sources suggest the headset could start at $1,100, and rise as high as $1,400, which isn’t good news for folks who wanted a do-it-all headset for a lower price.
McVicker admittedly doesn’t have the most reliable of track records, although it’s still food for thought, especially given Valve’s original idea was to have the Steam Frame cost less than the $999 it charged for the Valve Index, as per an interview the manufacturer did at the time of the headset’s announcement with UploadVR.
However, Valve, as with other firms, has been hit hard by the ongoing memory crisis, which has forced component prices up, with that cost then being passed onto consumers.
We already thought the Steam Machine’s price was a little too high for the specs on offer, owing to the current market conditions for RAM, storage, and how difficult it is to get those components at a more affordable rate.
Valve said at the time that it may see further price rises for the Steam Machine in the future when it explained the price and pre-order system for the device, given the volatility of the price for memory components, and it looks like that could be the case again.
We know that chip manufacturer Qualcomm is putting its prices up next month, which could negatively impact later shipments of the Steam Frame, too.
McVicker also thinks we’re overdue an announcement when it comes to the Steam Frame pre-order and the headset’s release date, as he anticipated it would come in late July.
He thinks we could even get an announcement today (August 3), and that Valve has been coy with review units, with only eight to ten units reportedly sent out due to either limited availability or Valve prioritizing enthusiasts over others.
We’ve been anticipating some form of Steam Frame announcement from Valve for quite some time now, especially as all the signs have pointed to something happening soon.
For instance, there’s now over 25 verified games and counting for the new ‘Great on Frame’ category Valve recently launched on Steam.
The headset has received Steamworks support and recently cleared one of its final regulatory hurdles, suggesting a launch is very close, while lots of third-party Steam Frame accessories have also been showing up on Amazon in recent weeks, suggesting that brands are getting ready for when the device eventually launches, which feels like it could be at any time.
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Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.