No prices yet. I may never financially recover from this.
I had a horrible flashback to the Ouija, that thing traumatized me
Steam Hardware [new Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and VR headset Steam Frame, coming in 2026]
Submitted 1 month ago by ampersandrew@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/hardware
Comments
But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 1 month ago
ilinamorato@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Oh man, the Ouya. That’s a blast from the past. Play mobile games on your TV using a controller made out of cardboard and balsa wood and sized for a Roswell alien. Good times.
Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Uh-oh…my wallet is in trouble.
AbbyGoodluck@lemmy.world 1 month ago
hello
Carighan@piefed.world 1 month ago
I wish we had a pricing-point for the VR headset. I'm still considering getting a Quest III and break it open a bit, since the hardware is so damn good. This seems marginally under it (monochrome instead of full-color etc) but running SteamOS instead of Android sounds amazing.
But I'd need more information on it first - and granted, knowing if ever it releases over here. 😅
I'll definitely get the new controller if possible though. Still rocking my original, and it's still the best way to play mouse-centric games on the couch, I prefer it over a lapboard with an actual mouse.
Soleos@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’m bracing myself for the Steam Frame to be around $700-800. The monochrome pass through might seem like a downgrade, but mixed reality is also not part of what valve wants to do with the headset, i.e. focus on VR. Everything else seems like they might be pricey upgrades, especially with the eye tracking and streaming tech. They also shifted manufacturing to the US due to tariffs.
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
but running SteamOS instead of Android sounds amazing.
I have put Android and carries flavors of Linux on a variety of weird hardware. I can go confirm, running a game on SteamOS rather than Android typically makes a big performance improvement.
SirHery@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Gamers nexus said the price category can be assumed to be around the index. Which i find a bit excessive, but maybe i misheard.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 month ago
Yeah but he can’t possibly know that. Valve wouldn’t be drawn on the price so that’s not based on something they’ve said to him that’s just what he personally thinks.
I feel like Valve are more than smart enough to know that a $1,000 headset won’t sell. Especially in the US, internationally they might be able to get away with that price, but even then people are going to be comparing it to the index and asking why the index has been EOLed and replaced with a headset of the same price.
Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
simple@piefed.social 1 month ago
These sound absolutely amazing but it all depends on the price.
if the Steam controller is on par with a new 8bitdo then I would definitely pick it up.
The steam machine sounds intriguing but there is already a big market for mini PCs and I don’t know if consumers would go out of their way to buy a steam PC box. I’m most skeptical about this one
Steam Frame looks fantastic but I really hope it’s cheap enough to compete with the Meta Quest 3 and isn’t just another ~$1000 headset for enthusiasts
ampersandrew@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I don’t know if consumers would go out of their way to buy a steam PC box
There could never be a better test for the hypothesis than this critical moment where people are fucking pissed at Microsoft.
simple@piefed.social 1 month ago
people can still just buy a $500 mini PC and install Linux on it
sparky@lemmy.federate.cc 1 month ago
If the performance and price is comparable to rolling your own mini-ITX rig then why not?
magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 1 month ago
Steam Machine feels more like a console that happens to also be a PC. If reasonably priced, the question is why anyone would want to buy Xbox or PlayStation when Steam Machine has a bigger library than both combined - on launch.
Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 1 month ago
Because normies can’t get Fortnite running easily on linux (afaik anyway), or other popular competitive titles like battlefield 6 or call of duty 2025 to run at all.
Most of the normies probably already have a console with some licenses that will carry over. PC gamers have a desktop system (often in addition to a console.) It’s just not the same.
Consoles just work. You don’t need to understand much. The deck has definitely not been a painless process but obviously it’s pretty good, especially if you stick to green checkmark titles. Having to research what games will work, how well they work, and how to make them work if not by default is too much for a lot of people.
I’m glad it’s coming though. More people running linux means better support overall from hardware vendors and software developers. Gaming on linux is in a great place today but it feels more like how gaming was 20 years ago where you sometimes have to look something up to get something working, and installing an OS is simply too much for a lot of people.
VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 1 month ago
PlayStation is probably going to still have exclusives, or at least timed exclusives, driving some sales. But this announcement may be the final nail in Xbox’s coffin.
tal@lemmy.today 1 month ago
The steam machine sounds intriguing but there is already a big market for mini PCs and I don’t know if consumers would go out of their way to buy a steam PC box. I’m most skeptical about this one
You might not be the target audience. I’m comfortable building an HTPC and putting an OS and all on it and configuring it, but the benefit of a console is that someone just gets an all-in-one setup. Well, and that game developers are specifically testing against.
Like, if it weren’t a barrier, you’d probably just have everyone using PCs instead of consoles in their living room.
CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Linux is a shit show for general purpose normies. You still have issues for days if you don’t buy the correct hardware. This will smooth the experience giving a known good start.
simple@piefed.social 1 month ago
I think the mass market would still rather buy a console, so I assume most people interested in the steam machine specifically want a PC box. Now that I looked at the specs it doesn’t seem that powerful, and I doubt it will be cheaper than a PS5.
Bongles@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
The VR looks interesting. I had bought the HP reverb G2, but Microsoft pulled the plug on windows mixed reality, and I’ve since moved to Linux, so this might be a good replacement.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Eyy, Reverb gang.
Apparently there is third party support in Linux under Mondao but it still seems pretty developmental and I haven’t had the time to mess with it yet. I’m still clinging to mine as well, because at least for now it still works and I’ve blocked Windows from rug-pulling my WMR app. I’m sure that’ll only last until the next time I need to reformat and reinstall in a couple of years.
Mechanite@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Same boat! My reservation G2 is collecting dust and I’ve since moved to Linux. I really hope the frame works well when streaming from a Linux desktop
utopiah@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yes but …
no hand tracking no color passthrough no hardware upgrade no WebXR no new VR proper content
Still, it’s good obviously, not having to rely on BigTech. This was also possible before though as I pointed out in lemmy.ml/post/38899489/22202786 with e.g. Lynx XR1, as a rooted Android standalone HMD with no account required.
Anyway IMHO the big questions for VR on Linux more broadly is what changes upstream on KDE in terms of immersive UX? Is KDE Plasma becoming a VR graphical shell? Does it have 3D widgets? Does it impact freedesktop in any way?
(copy of lemmy.ml/post/38899489/22202838 as I posted there first)
PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Price will make or break this thing. Rumors going around its gonna be around 1k which is a tall ask for the listed specs. 500, I’d buy it without any promise of any Valve backed VR game and I’m not even big on VR. For the rumored price, I’d need to see more commitment from Valve and latest news right now are saying they aren’t developing a VR title.
jj4211@lemmy.world 1 month ago
A $1k would break it in this market… The specs suggest a little lower end generally than Quest 3 hardware wise, or in the ballpark (comparable display and optics, lower quality cameras). The only notable improvement is including eye tracking, which is nice, but not $1k nice…
$500 should be a good target, some tradeoffs with Quest 3 (worse ‘AR’, better eye tracking and PC connectivity).
Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 month ago
Yeah, at about £500 I’d have got one. I don’t need the full Steam OS or any of that crap. I just want wireless connection to my PC for streaming.
The use of a second wireless dongle could be a double edged sword as well. Right now I can use a Quest anywhere in the house on Wifi. Works better than wired, in fact. The dongle would limit where I can use it.
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
For the rumored price, I’d need to see more commitment from Valve and latest news right now are saying they aren’t developing a VR title.
Agreed. I feel the same.
But then I start to think about an Indie friendly VR platform might give us in six months. It could be very nice.
utopiah@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Sadly agree. I’ve been waiting for years, claiming I’d buy whatever they sell… but honestly right now this would feel like a donation more than something I eagerly want, even less need.
FWIW I’m also NOT the market, I have … I don’t actually know how many but at least 5 XR headsets.
pycorax@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I very much doubt it would be 1K, the Index was 1K and they’ve made it clear that this is not targeting the same premium headset market that the Index was.
Xttweaponttx@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I wonder if they might be able to add hand tracking later, since they’ve already got the cameras that’d to the tracking?
VR proper content Like what? If it’s a full blown desktop environment with steamVR, isn’t that as VR proper as it gets? 🤔 not being critical, trying to get what you mean! 🙂
no hardware upgrade As for GPU/CPU upgrades, I think if you wanna do heavy VR games like alyx it makes sense to stream from its dedicated dongle, no? Also they’ve talked about the ability to upgrade lenses and headstrap-audio and other stuff - so, besides the main board, it is actually sorta upgradable! 🙂
utopiah@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Technically speaking hand tracking can be done with just computer vision, no dedicated tracking (like Leap Motion) required even though it’s typical better. So yes, it could be done but there is not promise of it so it’d be a risky bet.
VR proper content like Half-life: Alyx, here my comment is about producing content, not using the existing Steam catalogue. I love Alyx, I need more. If I get another headsets (I have several) but nothing amazing to put on it, “just” the usual then I’m not as excited.
I did stream, actually Alyx in 2020 (half a decade ago!) via Alvr …benetou.fr/…/1243659207783649281/ so… that’s definitely feasible, definitely not new. It’s a good principle and if it helps keep the device price low, in fact VERY low, then it’s great. If it’s still relatively expensive then it won’t feel great to buy a device in 2026 with specs comparable to something that was out few years priors even if in practice it might be “good enough” standalone with some specific games. The Steam Deck didn’t really have that problem because there was no real alternatives. Here I’d argue it’s a bit different with Quest, Pico, Lynx but also higher ends like Vision Pro (which you can stream Steam games to, as I did also last year) or the newer Samsung Galaxy XR.
Regarding updates… yes, in theory, in practice I best most of use don’t have accessories for our Index “Frunk”. AFAICT also most people didn’t upgrade their Deck but rather bought the newer model. They do hint at quite a few upgrades or modules in the video though. Love to see how repairable it will be and no doubt it should be way better than most alternatives!
pycorax@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
What would you want hand tracking or color pass through for? The goal of this headset is VR and I feel like it checks all the boxes required for it.
utopiah@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Cubism, mini golf or any game where you build something in the space, Laser Dance, all the sketching and sketching apps, etc. It’s not for everyone but feels like such a low hanging fruit when all the rest is there.
Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
Doubt I would ever do the VR headset. I simply don’t play the kind of games that work well with (or even need) VR. Although come to think of it, a VR Civilization VI game would be wild.
But the Steam Machine would be interesting to replace the old laptop I currently have running as my multimedia box on my television (streaming, retro gaming, steam mirroring, etc…) It would be more powerful than the well worn old dude I’m currently using.
jj4211@lemmy.world 1 month ago
They did at least do: www.meta.com/experiences/…/5781689118524197/?srsl…
No idea if it is vaguely any good or not…
Mechanite@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Its kind of crazy they didn’t make it available on PC. Those graphics look *rough *. I have to imagine the late game turn time/performance is rough too. But, I haven’t played it since I don’t have any Meta devices
ampersandrew@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’ve got a bit of a VR library, but the new ease of setup with this one does have me considering how I’d use the virtual display features. Even with trackpads, a lot of mouse-driven games aren’t great on Steam Deck, but I’m replaying Baldur’s Gate 2 right now and wondering how the mouse controls might work out in VR.
SaraTonin@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’ll buy the VR headset if, as well as streaming games, you can also play video/mirror your desktop. I know that’s not the market they’re going for, but it seems to me that those are the main use-cases of VR headsets aside from gaming and to my non-tech way of thinking it doesn’t seem harder than streaming a game.
dustyData@lemmy.world 1 month ago
play video/mirror your desktop
They have demos of those things in the trailer. Apparently the pass-through is black and white, but it supports peripherals, so adding a color HD camera to the front to pass-through HQ video while desktop working is completely feasible. It is also just a linux computer, so if Valve doesn’t develop the software for it, someone will. Essentially kicking the (very tiny and limited) vision pro market out from under Apple.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 month ago
The Vision Pro isn’t available outside of North America, has barely any apps and doesn’t support gaming, so I don’t know how Apple expect this to become a major product for them.
The frame fixes basically all of those issues, much wider availability although still not global, supports games and it’s basically a PC so you can edit an Excel document in VR if for some reason that’s what you want to do, has controllers so you’re not relying on finger tracking exclusively, and actually has a decent store of content. Oh and the battery is both larger in capacity and more sensibly designed so that it’s actually part of the device rather than this weird dangly thing you always have to have.
The only downside is an inability to allow me to see my office at the same time. It’s not like the vision pro lets you actually keep the laptop display on anyway so being able to see it isn’t a huge advantage.
It would have been nice if it had colour pass through, but I also don’t really care that it’s not present.
ricecake@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Their streaming system works fine with desktop apps, and it already works with their VR setup on different headsets.
I’ve streamed desktop to a different headset. I was able to also do stuff like mounting an app in a picture frame on the wall of a little VR house.
Using the video player on desktop while streaming was a little jank, but since this is a proper desktop I imagine it’ll be easy enough to switch over and use a normal video player without streaming another computers video player.
ameancow@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The timing is great as I learn my healthcare premiums are likely to go up by over a thousand dollars a month.
surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Been waiting for this vr headset to release for years, only to find they’ve used lcd’s instead of OLED screens. I’m so disappointed and pissed.
rafoix@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
VR is the most expensive toy you will use for a couple of hours before getting bored of it.
Tattorack@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Depends on what kind of person you are. I know of individuals who practically live in VR.
Zink@programming.dev 1 month ago
My 200 hour playthrough of Skyrim VR back in 2019 justified my headset purchase and GPU upgrade (gtx 1080, oooh, aaah) all by itself.
WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I just checked and I’ve gotten over 100 hours out of mine so far.
surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’ve already had a headset for years, and it’s incredible. You don’t know what you’re talking g about.
ChillPenguin@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I play my index every week. I’m still not bored.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 month ago
You could say that about any game. If you’re not interested in the game you’re not going to play it for a very long time but that’s not a failing of the concept.
Pavlov is a VR game that I’ve probably got hundreds of hours in. I’ve had four or five gaming sessions because you tend to get sucked in.
mlg@lemmy.world 1 month ago
They said they went LCD because of the light loss due to the lenses.
I dunno if they could implement a controlled backlit array + high constrast panel layer at that scale, but it would be killer if they did and made it seem 80% like a real OLED.
surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Hmm. Ok. That’s fair I guess. Still bummed, but I guess I’ll give it a try when it’s released. Still better than a quest.
Rooster326@programming.dev 1 month ago
Remindme! When they release a Steam Frame OLED after sales peak.
LaserTurboShark69@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Fair assessment. It’s got all the bells and whistles except OLED. Makes me wonder if they’re planning on an OLED model in a year or two like they did with the Deck. They know there will be plenty of double dippers.
echodot@feddit.uk 1 month ago
Apparently OLED has issues with brightness. VR lenses tend to cut out an awful lot of light (I’ve seen a lot of unhelpful diagrams with lines on them that try to explain the problem) so you need a system that outputs a lot of light or you need to use much more expensive lenses.
My guess is valve had a price point and using the better lenses would significantly cut into that.
It’s worth pointing out that I’m pretty sure the PlayStation VR uses the same lenses. I’ve never had a problem with that so I doubt it’ll be a major issue.
surph_ninja@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I waited long enough. Just gonna go ahead and get the psvr2 with the pc adapter.
42beansinapod@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
I wonder if the Steam Frame is the codename deckard. I was really excited for that because it was supposed to have Steam Deck performance, but with an Arm processor that will be hard since most games need an emulation layer.
G0ldenSp00n@lemmy.jacaranda.club 1 month ago
It is Deckard, from the looks of it won’t be as powerful as the steam deck but not because the ARM chip is slow. They said it is just because the effective TDP of the ARM chip (after subtracting all the work it is doing to track the headset and controllers and do the rendering) is like 7 watts, compared to the 15 watts of the steam deck. So you will probably still be able to run some of the more indie games on it. The translation later is also a 10-15% slow-down for CPU bound games, but they said should be negligible for GPU bound games.
faintwhenfree@lemmus.org 1 month ago
From early reviews it seems penalty for emulation is in single digits. Also honestly I am considering one just to watch movies but my intereat would depend on the price of course. So wait we must.
42beansinapod@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
Yes, also one of my use cases and not worth a zuck-strap-on for me.
LettyWhiterock@lemmy.world 1 month ago
With the fact there’s apparently surprisingly reasonable evidence of a new half life game, I wonder if that’s likely to get announced when they give these a release date. I could see them bundling it with the steam machines at least. Assuming the rumors turn out to be true.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 month ago
I’ve been under the impression that it is very likely to be a sequel to Alyx. Possibly launch title for the Frame.
G0ldenSp00n@lemmy.jacaranda.club 1 month ago
Early leaks were pointing to a Alyx sequel, but I think the more recent leaks are pointing to it just being Half Life 3, which would presumably be playable on the Deck. Frame and the new Steam machine.
Xttweaponttx@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Uhhhhhhh saywhanow?? Where you seein these rumors?! They reputable??!?
Dont play with my heart! 😭 I would DIE for a new Half Life VR - Alyx was FUCKING incredible!!!
LettyWhiterock@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I don’t know if it’ll be VR but the short version is there’s a lot of code in the source 2 updates that directly point to the development of a new half-life game.
aesthelete@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I wonder if the steam machine supports hdmi cec.
Ogy@lemmy.world 1 month ago
It does, it’s in the specs at the bottom of the steam page
Xttweaponttx@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
It does! I believe I read it in one of the rock paper shotgun articles.
Nibodhika@lemmy.world 1 month ago
They do, I’m 99% sure I heard it mentioned by someone (I think it was Linus from LTT)
aesthelete@lemmy.world 1 month ago
That’s awesome. I always wondered why more computers didn’t add support for that in general.
I’ve seen dongle-style things to add CEC support, but I heard mixed things about those.
ventusvir@lemmy.world 1 month ago
HDMI and displayport
A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I give exactly zero fucks about any of this until they show prices.
otacon239@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The new controller and headset have stressed every issue I had with each directly.
It killed me that the original Controller didn’t have a second analog stick. A lot of people tried to claim that the trackpad was a viable replacement, but I just could never get used to it. Loved all the other features.
On top of that, no more light towers! I’ll finally be able to bring it friends’ places to demo! Plus the fact that the headset supports native gaming means no tower needed for some titles. I’d imagine the vast majority of VR-focused titles will run just fine since they almost all target low-spec anyway.
missingno@fedia.io 1 month ago
My impression of the original Steam Controller was that it was designed for games I don't want to play on controller, at the expense of being terrible for games I do want to play on controller.
tal@lemmy.today 1 month ago
stressed
I think maybe based on the rest of your comment, you intended to write “addressed”?
ultranaut@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’m disappointed in the screens they used but it unfortunately makes sense that 4k microOLED isn’t feasible. I wish the new controllers supported Lighthouse tracking too. If the new controllers really are proprietary to just this single HMD that’s a big failure in my opinion.
Howlinghowler110th@kbin.earth 1 month ago
gabe can have my firstborn
stopforgettingit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
All I got to say is that the new Steam controller better link to devices as a controller and not a mouse. The current steam controller shows up as a mouse when I connect it to mobile devices via Bluetooth, so I can’t use it with games that have controller integration build in to the game, since they think I am connecting a Bluetooth mouse. The only reason I don’t use my current steam controller as my main controller is because of the mouse issue.
termaxima@slrpnk.net 1 month ago
Real glad I can soon ditch the DualSense Edge and its only half-functional gimmicks !
I will miss the adjustable triggers, but I will NOT miss the randomly incorrect button mappings, and “extra buttons” that get fucked up if you ever connect it to an actual PS5
pyre@lemmy.world 1 month ago
let’s hope they sell these globally this time.
nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
I will buy the VR headset immediately
melonhusk@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
2026 feels like a lifetime away but my wallet already feels the impending doom. Guess ramen it is for the next few years.
1Fuji2Taka3Nasubi@piefed.zip 1 month ago
I wonder why only HDMI 2.0 on the Steam Machine, ‘cos RDNA3 is capable of HDMI 2.1 and you need it to go over 4k 60Hz (I know it says 4k 120Hz for the Steam Machine’s HDMI but I suspect that’s either 4:2:2 color or DSC if it is really HDMI 2.0).
merdaverse@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Didn’t Steam already have some home console like hardware a few years ago? That flopped so badly I don’t even remember the name
SolarPunker@slrpnk.net 1 month ago
Indiegames cube!
WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 1 month ago
Rip loud circle touchpads.
nawa@lemmy.world 1 month ago
So this is the “Extend” step of PC gaming control by Valve. We’ll see how open the Steam ecosystem will stay.
Gorgeous_Sloth@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Hope this work great, gaming industry really needs that
IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Where steamphone
Nibodhika@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I mean, the VR is an ARM chip that can run APKs, so if someone can find a way to plug a SIM card there that’s it.
Natanael@infosec.pub 1 month ago
There’s some slots for peripherals, so it’s definitely doable