Valve has a new VR headset on sale, and it costs more than anyone expected. The Steam Frame was supposed to arrive at a price below $1,059, according to Valve developer Jeremy Selan, who spoke to the BBC. Instead, the device launched at a higher price point, and Valve is pointing to the same issue everyone else faces: rising component costs.
“We set out to come out with a device that would have been far more affordable, but the global RAM market, the global storage market have impacted us the same way they’ve impacted everybody,” Selan said. “We fought hard to get it even to this price.”
The Cost Problem
Valve originally announced the Steam Frame with a target price below its previous Valve Index headset, which launched at $999 and required a direct plug into a PC. The Steam Frame is wireless, streams from a PC over Wi-Fi or an included 6GHz USB wireless dongle, and it runs on its own Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip paired with 16GB of RAM. That setup was meant to let it play Half-Life: Alyx natively on the headset.
The company now says that price target is history. The BBC reported that Selan acknowledged the device ended up costing more than planned, and the reason is simple: memory and storage prices have risen across the board.
Pierre-Loup Griffais, another Valve developer, offered a similar assessment to Tom’s Hardware. He said there is “not really any sort of the kind of distortion compared to just the price of the parts in there.”
Why Valve Couldn’t Cut Back
When IGN asked Griffais why Valve didn’t simply ship the Steam Frame with less RAM, the answer was blunt. “I think at this point, things were a little bit too far in development to fully rethink the product,” he said.
Griffais’s comments to Tom’s Hardware suggest the answer is yes. He framed the price as a reflection of component costs rather than a markup.
What Valve Is Selling
The Steam Frame is designed to work in a few ways:
- As a wireless headset that streams from a PC over Wi-Fi or the USB dongle.
- As a standalone machine running on its own Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
- With 16GB of RAM, which Valve says helped it get Half-Life: Alyx running natively.
Valve has not yet confirmed whether it is selling the Steam Frame at cost, as it did with the $1,049 Steam Machine living room PC.
The Price Question
Valve says it is “pretty comfortable” with the higher price. The company points to broader trends in memory and storage pricing, arguing that the Steam Frame is not an outlier.
The comparison to the Steam Machine is notable. Valve confirmed that device was sold at cost, and Griffais suggested the same logic applies here. If the Steam Machine is not getting more expensive than a comparable PC, the reasoning goes, the Steam Frame shouldn’t either.
There is a gap between those two positions. The Steam Machine was confirmed at cost. The Steam Frame was only promised to be cheaper, and it isn’t. Valve is comfortable with the price, but it hasn’t said whether the company is absorbing the difference.
Selan acknowledged the price rose, and he pointed to global markets driving the increase. That is a standard industry answer, and it is the only public explanation Valve has given so far.
| Device | Original Target Price | Actual Price | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam Frame | Below $1,059 | Not stated | Wireless, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 16GB RAM |
| Valve Index | $999 at launch | Not stated | Wired, PC plug-in |
| Steam Machine | $1,049 | $1,049 | Sold at cost |
What We Know So Far
The Steam Frame is a capable headset with a strong pedigree, but the price tag is the story now. The key facts are these:
- Valve said the Steam Frame was supposed to cost less than $1,059.
- The device launched at a higher price.
- Selan blamed global RAM and storage markets.
- Griffais said the price reflects component costs.
- Valve says it is comfortable with the price.
Valve’s virtual reality plans hit actual reality.
The company has not yet confirmed whether it is selling the Steam Frame at cost, and it has not said whether the price increase reflects rising component costs or a strategic decision. What is clear is that the Steam Frame arrived at a price above the target Valve announced, and the developers are pointing to the same forces affecting the entire industry.
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