New Valve VR headset launching in 2025 and you won’t believe the price
A reliable leaker has claimed Valve will launch a new VR headset later this year, although it will come at a significant cost.
A reliable leaker has claimed Valve will launch a new VR headset later this year, although it will come at a significant cost.
Valve’s main moneymaker might be its Steam storefront, but the company has released several pieces of hardware over the years.
The most popular piece of kit from the company is the Steam Deck, even if its popularity is overplayed in comparison to the Nintendo Switch and other game consoles. Valve also launched its own VR headset, the Valve Index, in 2019, and previously tried to launch a line of console-like devices with the Steam Machine concept in 2015.
While Valve’s hardware ventures have never sold in much volume, it seems the company isn’t giving up on virtual reality – with a prominent leaker claiming a new wireless VR headset is set to launch later this year.
A new standalone VR headset codenamed Deckard (a Blade Runner reference) has long been rumoured but according to prominent Valve leaker Gabe Follower, the device will launch ‘by the end of 2025’ at the eye-watering price of $1,200 (£945).
This price is apparently for the ‘full bundle’ which includes ‘some in-house games (or demos) that are already done’. While there’s no indication of what these games are, they could be in a similar vein to The Lab, which launched alongside the HTC Vive headset.
Several people have confirmed that Valve is aiming to release new standalone, wireless VR headset (codename Deckard) by the end of 2025. The current price for the full bundle is set to be $1200. Including some "in-house" games (or demos) that are already done. Valve want to give… Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) February 26, 2025
This rumoured price isn’t too surprising though, considering the most expensive bundle for the Valve Index sells for £919 on Steam, which includes controllers, base stations, and Half-Life: Alyx.
According to Gabe Follower, Valve ‘want to give the user the best possible experience without cutting any costs’ with its Deckard headset, and even at the $1,200 price, ‘it will be sold at a loss’.
It’s claimed the headset will utilise the Steam operating system from the Steam Deck, albeit adapted for virtual reality. The leaker further states that a core feature of the headset is ‘the ability to play flat screen game[s] that are already playable on Steam Deck, but in VR on a big screen without a PC’.
In November last year, 3D models of the Deckard’s controllers were discovered in SteamVR driver files, codenamed Roy (as in Roy Batty). A reference to new Steam Controller, codenamed Ibex, was also discovered, which was reportedly ‘being tooled for a mass production goal in their factories’.
This all suggests Valve is preparing to announce a whole new slate of hardware in the coming months, although the company is notoriously elusive, so there’s every chance we don’t hear anything at all.
As for when a new headset could be revealed, Valve previously announced hardware during the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in 2015, so it’s possible something could be shown at this year’s event next month.
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