- Valve’s next VR headset is tipped to land this week, possibly on November 12
- The device is known as the Steam Frame, previously the Valve Deckard
- It could launch alongside some impressive new first-party games
Here we go again. Valve’s upcoming Steam Frame headset – also called Deckard in leaks – is once again rumored to be announced very soon. Tomorrow, November 12th, in fact.
That’s according to SadlyItsBradley (a reliable source for XR-related leaks), who shared on his Discord (via r/ValveDeckard) that the Valve headset could be shown off “This week. More specifically on Wednesday” according to “a few sources.”
Now, before we get any further into this leak, I’ll give the usual ‘take rumors with a pinch of salt warning’ – and that’s doubly true here.
While it does feel like a where there’s smoke, there’s fire situation – there are so many Steam Frame leaks it feels all but guaranteed we will see it eventually – this isn’t the first time a debut has been expected from Deckard. A couple of months ago, you might have seen the internet filled with speculation after several VR influencers shared details of them attending an event with Valve in Seattle.
That said, something feels a bit different about this release date tease. Not least of which, Valve has dropped tech around this time of year before: with the Steam Deck OLED in 2023, which launched on November 16.
It’s also right before the holiday season, which is, again, a common release date for gaming tech in the hope they’ll be the number one gift on everyone’s list to Santa.
It’s on my list for sure, and I’m personally leaning towards a launch happening soon, but as excited as I am for Deckard to finally break cover, I’m not holding my breath – I’ve been burned too many times this year already on XR release date leaks.
When the Steam Frame does make its debut, what can we expect from it?
As we’ve discussed in previous stories, the device is expected to be a standalone VR headset like the Meta Quest 3, but could also be used to play PC games – either through tethering for intensive PC VR titles, and/or running less intensive games locally like a wearable Steam Deck.
It’s also been suggested there could be two models, like the Steam Deck, with one being more affordable and the other offering upgraded specs at a higher cost (think bigger storage, possibly an OLED screen).
Speaking of cost, multiple leaks have pinned the price to start around $1,200 (around £900 / AU$1,850). That’s almost squarely between the Meta Quest 3 and the new Samsung Galaxy XR headset and certainly isn’t cheap.
However, given in the recent leak, SadlyItsBradley added that Valve “will need a week or two to explain the device,” this could suggest the high cost is teeing up a complex PC gaming device with more utility than people would expect.
Though this could also be teasing other Valve announcements related to the controllers and games the Frame is expected to launch alongside, though when it comes to Valve software, it’s tough to separate actual leaks from pipe dreams (I’ve seen too many people teasing Half-Life 3 to believe it’s 2025).
We’ll have to wait and see what Valve has up its sleeve. Hopefully, we won’t be waiting for long.
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