Valve's Steam Frame VR headset costs $1,059 (1,049€) for 256GB and $1,299 (1,279€) for 1TB. Reservations opened today, and Half-Life: Alyx comes with every headset.
Valve announced the Frame in November 2025, together with the Steam Machine and a new Steam Controller. At the time, Valve told Road to VR it expected the price to land below the Index, its 2019 headset. Road to VR took that to mean the full Index kit at about $1,000. The Frame now costs more than that.
The Steam Machine followed the same pattern. When Valve priced it in June, the company said memory and storage costs had made its original price goal unworkable. The Steam Frame is a steep entry point for someone who only wants to try VR.
The headset can run optimized VR games and many regular Steam games by itself, without a PC. It can also stream games from a gaming PC through a wireless adapter that comes in the box. The two versions differ only in storage and price, and both include controllers.
Prices for other regions and for accessories are in Road to VR's rundown.
What comes with it, and what does not
Every Frame includes Half-Life: Alyx, Valve's 2020 VR game. Buyers get a voucher they can redeem in the headset's settings. Valve built a version of Alyx that runs on the headset itself, but says it will not be ready when the Frame launches and is meant to ship soon.
Valve credits eye tracking and foveated rendering, which renders the image in full detail only where you look, for making the port possible without changing the game's content. It took more than a year of extra software work, and Valve says most of that work also benefits other games on the Frame.
There is no charger in the box. Valve sells a power supply separately, and Engadget notes you can skip it if you already own a high-power USB-C charger. Prescription lenses from Zenni Optical and an RGB camera from Arcturus are planned, with no prices yet.
How reservations work
You cannot simply buy a Frame today. Valve is repeating the approach it used for the Steam Machine. You sign up for the model you want, and a one-time random draw sets the order, so signing up early does not help. Road to VR says the system is meant to limit resellers.
If you land on the waitlist, your place in line is beyond the number of headsets currently available. Valve says it will notify you if you move up. Anyone who signs up after the deadline goes to the back of the waitlist.
- Until 10 AM PT (7 PM CEST) on September 17, you can sign up for the 256GB or the 1TB model.
- On September 17, Valve randomizes the list and emails everyone to say whether they are on the reservation list or the waitlist.
- On September 18, Valve expects to send the first purchase emails, and it will keep sending them as stock allows.
