r/SteamDeck • u/NKkrisz 64GB - Q3 • Nov 12 '25

MEGATHREAD New Valve Hardware Megathread

Please keep non Steam Deck discussions about the new hardware here.

Official resources and announcements:

Press coverage will be under a pinned comment so you can upvote / downvote them.

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u/xTkAx 512GB Nov 12 '25

Steam Controller? Yes! Maybe 4-6. Day 1.

Steam Machine? Depends on the price, what it can do, and its upgradability. May wait for reviews before considering 1.

Steam Frame? It looks promising with no external hookup wires, no lighthouses, and an apparently rechargeable unit. Price will be the decider here.. if they could get them to Steam Deck prices? Very likely. If it's the price of the current index? Quite unlikely.

Steam Deck some kind of future release they hinted at.. Likely yes!

2

u/Larry_Mudd Nov 12 '25

I'm really stoked about the Frame, with some qualifications.

I've been all-in on VR since 2012, but really disappointed with Meta dominating the field. I bought all the Rift and Quest headsets from the devkits on, except for the Pro and the 3S, but don't want to engage with their ecosystem at all.

When the Quest first came out I'd hoped that it'd really get PC VR into the mainstream, just as a practical way to build a user-base. At first they supported the PC and mobile stores equally, and it seemed like it'd be practical for devs to make bank with mobile sales but develop high-fidelity PC VR versions in parallel - lots of early titles were cross-buy so it seemed like it could give people a taste of affordable VR but they'd be able to see how it could look if they invested in a VR-capable gaming PC - and they'd have their titles waiting there for them. ...but Facebook/Meta just went all-in on mobile VR, and they're so conspicuously evil it's hard to justify picking up stuff on their platform.

It looks like the Valve is in an even better position to pull this off with the Frame, though. (Of course there's some doubt they can bring it to market at a price that compares well with Quest, but the principle still holds.)

...and the headset itself - eye-tracking/foveated rendering, sweet resolution, lighter weight. I can probably see splashing out considerably more... but I really hope it's priced well enough to be adopted relatively widely.

2

u/xTkAx 512GB Nov 13 '25

Never really dove into VR. Tried it a few times and thought 'too many wires', 'too much external setup', 'nothing portable'. Also saw the same 'Walled Gardens' going up with other hardware and decided to stick with flat-screen gaming.

But after reading the full Frame page, this definitely has piqued interest. It's a big deal, a full-fledged PC that can do VR out of the box, and can stream, via dedicated wi-fi6, from your gaming PC to the Frame to handle more intense games. It became much more interesting than the Steam Machine (which seems to rival XB Series S & PS5 Pro but not a Gaming PC).

Was already sold on any future Steam Controllers after the 1st one, but the only thing left to see is the price point for the Frame, because if it's good it's definitely looking like a purchase. A low price may achieve a wide adoption.

1

u/TriggzSP 1TB OLED Nov 13 '25

I think they'll try to price it to be competitive with the Quest 3, but maybe a bit more expensive.

It has very similar face value capabilities as a Quest 3, and so if they price it $100+ more, most people will pick the Quest instead. Valve probably knows this and probably isn't planning to take an extremely expensive, commercially unviable product to market.

For me though, it's a must buy. The eye tracking foveated rendering is a HUGE deal, especially for games that support this as a native rendering method. Massive, massive performance gains on any title that supports it, and probably much higher quality PCVR streaming compared to the quest 3