Overview
- Valve launched the Steam Frame on Monday and opened sign-ups through Sept. 17 for a randomized reservation that will decide who can buy units first.
- The headset starts at $1,059 for a 256GB model and $1,299 for a 1TB model, with orders constrained by limited initial inventory that Valve says is intended to reduce resellers.
- Each Steam Frame ships with a native ARM build of Half‑Life: Alyx and runs SteamOS on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip with 16GB LPDDR5X, 2160×2160 LCDs per eye, Wi‑Fi 7, eye‑tracked foveated streaming, and a 6GHz wireless dongle for low‑latency PC streaming.
- Valve and partners are selling paid accessories at launch — an Ergonomic Accessories Kit (~$59), a 45W power supply (~$29), Arcturus color camera and prescription lenses — and leaked pre-release videos also revealed box contents and that controllers use replaceable AA batteries.
- Valve says global DRAM and storage shortages raised component costs and forced a higher launch price, a factor that makes the Frame a premium, gamer‑focused alternative to lower‑priced headsets and may keep wider availability limited in the near term.