👀 The Steam Frame could release as soon as next month, as per one reliable insider
📅 The prediction is lined up as a result of the similar timeframes for Valve’s prep for the Steam Machine and Steam Controller
🤔 Earlier rumors had pointed to an announcement this week, but Valve seems to be doing a lot of backend work at the moment for the device
📷 We got more photos and details on the device, but are still missing key information on pricing and pre-order details
We might have a further inkling of when we can expect the Steam Frame to release, according to one reliable insider.
Via the r/SteamFrame subreddit, user SadlyItsBradley has stated that he estimates the Steam Frame to release in “about a month”. This, he says, is based on the comparison of how long it took to get the Steam Machine set up for launch.
As users have also noted in the subreddit, this makes sense, as it took around a month for both the Steam Machine price announcement and the Steam Controller launch based on Valve’s internal preparation with backend updates, console shipments, and more.
Rumors had pointed to a Steam Frame announcement coming earlier this week, but it hasn’t come true just yet. However, we’ve gotten a range of new details on Steam Frame while we wait, such as new photos of the device and an array of backend updates Valve has done for the device.
It had also been rumored that Valve was already sending out review units alongside the Steam Machine, but as users in the subreddit have noted, this turned out to be false, and we’ve only just gotten news of an unboxing video being uploaded to the Steam backend, as occurred with the Steam Controller a few weeks before launch.
Another key thing we don’t know is the Steam Frame price – our own predictions put it at between $899 and $999 for the base 256GB model, making it more expensive than an equivalent Meta Quest 3, but under the $1,000 mark Valve charged for the full-kit version of its previous Index VR headset.
In an interview with Upload VR, Valve said it was aiming to supply the Steam Frame for less than $1,000.
The Steam Frame is a streaming-first experience, designed for PC-grade fidelity and modular flexibility. It works standalone, too, and is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Series processor with 16GB of RAM, which is likely to be the kicker for a higher price than we may have originally gotten.
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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.