Valve may be preparing to officially launch the Steam Frame, its third piece of hardware announced last year alongside the Steam Machine and Steam Controller. The company's upcoming virtual reality headset appears to be on the horizon following the leak of several unboxing, setup, and instructional videos. These videos initially appeared online via an update to the ARM Steam Client before being quickly removed, but were preserved and re-uploaded by users.
Rather than suppress the leaked content, Valve has since made the videos officially available, allowing them to be found within the Steam backend. The leaked footage details the process of setting up and signing into the Steam Frame, which will require a Steam account for operation. The headset can function as a standalone VR device or connect wirelessly to a PC running Steam. Additional leaked videos cover the installation of accessories such as the head strap and light blockers, as well as the wireless adapter.
The Steam Frame boasts a resolution of 2160x2160 per eye with pancake optics, a 110-degree field of view, and a refresh rate that can range from 72Hz to 120Hz, with experimental support for 144Hz. The headset weighs 435g and is powered by a 4nm Snapdragon ARM processor with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. Storage options include 256GB or 1TB of UFS storage, expandable via a microSD slot. Connectivity features Wi-Fi 7 and dual 5Ghz/6Ghz streaming for simultaneous VR and Wi-Fi use. Wireless PC tethering is supported via Wi-Fi 6E, with a USB 3.0 receiver. The device utilizes four outward-facing monochrome cameras with an IR illuminator for low-light conditions, and two interior cameras for eye tracking. Power is supplied by a 21.6 Wh rechargeable battery integrated into the headstrap.
Early hands-on impressions from last year highlighted the Steam Frame's integration with SteamOS, offering familiar interface and quality-of-life features akin to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. The headset was noted for its effectiveness as a virtual theater for playing non-VR games, with seamless integration and low-latency wireless streaming enabling PC games to be played at full system strength. With these setup videos now in the public domain, Valve appears poised to release the Steam Frame soon, aligning with previous plans for customer availability before the end of Summer 2026. Pricing details remain unconfirmed, though industry speculation suggests it may exceed initial cost estimates given market trends for PC hardware.
Further details regarding Valve's return to VR development, technological advancements since the Index headset, and the implementation of its wireless streaming capabilities are available in existing Q&A features.