The anticipated release of the Steam Frame may face delays and potentially higher pricing than previously suggested.
In light of the ongoing global shortages in memory and storage, Valve has announced the need to "revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing" for both the Steam Frame and Steam Machine. This announcement comes on the heels of the company’s initial reveal back in November, when it projected that these products would launch in "early 2026". At that time, Valve intended for the Steam Frame to be priced below $1000, which is the cost of the complete Index virtual reality kit, while also indicating that the Steam Machine would be competitively priced against similarly configured PCs.
Now, according to a blog post on Steam, Valve has expressed that it had originally intended to disclose specific prices and release timelines by this moment. However, due to escalating prices and limited availability of essential components like memory and storage, they are compelled to re-evaluate their plans regarding the launch of these products.
Valve stated, "When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now. But the memory and storage shortages you've likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then. The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing (especially around Steam Machine and Steam Frame)."
Despite these challenges, Valve maintains its ambition to release all three products within the first half of the year. However, the company acknowledges that there is still work to be done to finalize the pricing and launch dates that they can confidently present. They assured consumers, "We will keep you updated as much as we can as we finalize those plans as soon as possible."
In related news, UploadVR's David Heaney and Ian Hamilton recently had the opportunity to try out the Steam Frame at Valve headquarters, experiencing both its standalone capabilities and its performance in PC VR. If you missed their insights during the initial hands-on session, it's worth checking out their comprehensive impressions for a deeper understanding of what to expect from this new headset.
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