The Steam Frame virtual reality headset is now available with confirmed pricing, but its launch cost has been significantly impacted by the global memory crisis. Valve engineers revealed that the company had initially aimed for a lower price point before component shortages escalated.
The Steam Frame is priced at $1,059 USD for the 256 GB model and $1,299 USD for the 1 TB variant, both including VR controllers. An additional Ergonomic Accessories Kit, featuring hand straps, a head strap, and an extended light blocker, is available for $49 USD.
Joy Lyons, a hardware engineer at Valve, stated that the target price shifted due to the ongoing RAM crisis worldwide. "We set out to design this hardware with one particular price in mind," Lyons explained, "but we've made choices to make sure that we're making a product that is choiceful, that people can purchase, they can upgrade with different features later. Then that price target shifted due to the ongoing RAM crisis around the world."
Forecasting component costs remains a challenge, with Lyons adding, "We don't know what pricing is in the future. We try to monitor these things, but we're certainly very aware of it." Despite the price increase, Valve is still committed to releasing new hardware. "We think it's a great, compelling product, and we are still happy to have it out there. We're happy to have our customers be able to have hardware during this RAM crisis, and we think it's important to launch new hardware out there and have new experiences available. But, yeah, I think everyone's disappointed by the RAM crisis."
Jeremy Selan, a software engineer at Valve, echoed these sentiments, expressing regret over the price adjustment. "I wish we could have shipped it at the price that we were at last year. It's still awesome today. It is amazing, but we were targeting a lower price, and I wish we could have done that."
This pricing places the Steam Frame at a considerable disadvantage compared to competitors like the Meta Quest 3, which retails for $600 USD. While the Steam Frame reportedly offers a superior overall experience, the significant price difference may deter mainstream consumers, especially given the Quest 3 provides a comparable fidelity for its lower cost. The Frame's higher price is partly attributed to its 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM, compared to the Quest 3's 8 GB of LPDDR5.
Selan defended the decision to include more RAM, noting that it ensures a consistent baseline performance. "We looked at the Steam Frame pre-launch a few years ago, we said we can access this huge fraction of the same catalog [as the Steam Deck], or we can slice a major component off it and make sure that'll never run, if we do a lower limit," Selan said. "Now, granted, the trade-offs and cost and performance were a little different at that time, but even in hindsight, having a single target where we know what this generation will be capable of running is great, and we're very happy with that."
Unlike Meta, which dedicates substantial quarterly funding to its Reality Labs division, Valve operates with different financial considerations. However, for consumers, the decision remains whether the Steam Frame's advantages justify its $450 premium over the Meta Quest 3.