David Bridges
Key Highlights
- Product Release: The Steam Frame is expected to launch in 2026.
- Features: It includes Foveated Streaming technology for improved image quality.
- Audio Quality: The headset has dual stereo speakers designed to cancel vibrations.
- Historical Context: This is Valve’s latest entry into the VR headset market after previous models.
Valve made a triumphant return to the hardware market with the Steam Deck and its OLED-toting counterpart, and now it’s having another crack at virtual reality with the Steam Frame. The Steam Frame is the long-rumored headset from Valve that had previously been codenamed “Deckard.” The company also announced a new Steam controller and PC called the Steam Machine. All three devices are coming in 2026.
Valve says the Steam Frame is a wireless, “streaming-first” headset. It supports both VR and flatscreen games. The company made a plug-and-play 6GHz wireless adapter that you slot into your PC (or Steam Machine). It has a dual-radio setup to help minimize interference, with one radio dedicated to streaming audio and visuals to the headset, and the other for Wi-Fi.
The Steam Frame has an optimization feature called Foveated Streaming. Valve says this uses low-latency eye-tracking to optimize the detail in the image wherever your eyes are looking. The company claims it can offer a “10x improvement in image quality and effective bandwidth.” Foveated Streaming is said to work for every game in your Steam library.
The headset has dual 2160 x 2160 LCD panels with refresh rates of up to 144Hz. Valve added that “Thin and light custom pancake lenses provide edge-to-edge sharpness and a large eye box.” As for audio, the Steam Frame has dual stereo speakers on each side with support for high-fidelity audio. Valve says the speakers on each side are “oriented in opposite directions to cancel out vibrations,” which can impact the tracking system.
Speaking of which, the headset has hour high-res monochrome characters for controller and headset tracking. Valve says there are infrared LEDs on the outside of the device that can help support tracking in dark environments.
The Steam Frame is far from Valve’s first VR headset. It released the Valve Index in 2019 and previously worked with HTC on its Vive headsets, which were initially consumer VR products before HTC shifted its focus to business and enterprise.
While none of Valve’s previous PC-focused headsets had the mainstream impact of Meta’s Quest lineup or arguably even PlayStation VR (which by all accounts is still an active platform, not that Sony’s release calendar backs it up), the company is responsible for what is probably the medium’s greatest-ever game in Half-Life: Alyx. And with SteamOS on the Steam Deck being such a hit that other companies are practically begging Valve to let them put it in their own rival handhelds, it’s easy to imagine the Steam Frame becoming a serious rival to the Meta Quest.
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