Prepare to break the news gently to your bank balance, because the Steam Frame price is out and it’ll cost you – take a deep breath now – $1,059 USD / £889 GBP for the base version.
Yes, the rumored $1k+ price point is in fact a reality, which isn’t really all that much of a surprise given how pretty much every gaming machine component under the sun has increased in price over the last five years.
Much like other VR headsets on the market such as the Meta Quest, the Steam Frame will launch at two different price points depending on how much internal storage you’d like packed in. And there’s quite the difference between the two. The $1,059 USD model sports just 256GB, but buyers also have the option to spend $1,299 USD / £1,089 for the 1TB model instead. VR enthusiasts with those kinds of reserves sitting around will need to sign up to the waiting list via the Steam store by Thursday, September 17 for a chance at securing a launch copy.
Now that the gut punch of the Steam Frame price is out of the way, what exactly does all that cash get you? The first bit of good news is that the Steam Frame will ship with Half-Life: Alyx included. Sure, there’s a good chance that any VR fans will have already played it, but anyone new to PC VR will get to enjoy the best VR game out there.
The Steam Frame sports plenty of fancy tech, including foveated rendering that “optimizes detail where your eyes are looking” and multi-link streaming which sends your data across all available connection points to improve consistency. As for the rest of the stats, here’s the official list from Steam:
- 4 nm Snapdragon® 8 Gen 3 – ARM64
- 16GB Unified LPDDR5X RAM
- 256GB UFS storage, microSD card slot
- Rechargeable 21.6 Wh Li-ion battery
- 2160 x 2160 LCD (per eye)
- 72-144Hz refresh rate (144Hz experimental)
- Inside-out camera based tracking
- Headset: Wi-Fi 7, 2×2, Dual Radios
- Wireless Adapter Included (Wi-Fi 6E)
- Bluetooth 5.4
- Dual speaker drivers per ear, dual microphone array
- SteamOS 3
- Steam Frame Controllers – full 6-DOF and gamepad controls
- Half-Life: Alyx included
Crucially, the Steam Frame VR headset does not ship with a power supply included. If you want to pick one of those as well it’ll cost you another $29 / £29, though any 45W+ USB-C charger will have you sorted. Also available are the Steam Frame Ergonomic Accessories Kit ($59 / £59) – which includes two controller hand straps / battery doors, a headset top strap and extended light blocker – and the Steam Frame Accessory Replacement Kit ($49 / £49) to swap out the face gasket and head cushion once they become worn.
At just $10 more than the base model of Valve’s own (and already pricey) Steam Machine, the Steam Frame price is, without question, expensive. It’s also launching at a time when the VR market has slowed significantly. The cost of entry certainly won’t help the tech appeal to a wider base, but Valve’s model may offer a much needed boost of increased interest.