Valve Has Stopped Manufacturing Its Index Vr Headset

Valve has conscionable announced nan Steam Frame, its caller VR headset that tin play games streamed straight from your PC utilizing a dedicated streaming instrumentality and tally Windows games locally acknowledgment to an Arm spot successful nan headset itself. At nan aforesaid time, Valve is besides moving connected from its erstwhile VR headset, nan Valve Index, which it’s “no longer manufacturing,” designer Lawrence nan tells The Verge.

The Index, a high-end headset that had to beryllium tethered to your PC to activity and utilized outer “lighthouse” guidelines stations for tracking, was released successful 2019. In her review, my workfellow Adi Robertson praised its visuals and its controllers, though dinged it for its $999 cost.

But corded headsets person besides fallen retired of favour since then. Meta has sold tens of millions of its standalone Quest VR headsets that tin play games without a PC relationship and way your position without other guidelines stations. Even much costly headsets for illustration nan Apple Vision Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy XR person taken nan standalone approach.

The Frame isn’t precisely a sequel to nan Index. But it does amended upon nan older headset pinch immoderate of its specs; nan Index’s LCD screens person 1440 x 1600 per-eye resolution, while nan Frame offers 2160 x 2160 per eye, for example. If you for illustration nan Index’s “Knuckles” controllers and really you tin strap them correct onto your hand, you’ll beryllium capable to bargain optional straps for nan Frame’s controllers truthful you tin do nan aforesaid thing.

And Valve is highly assured successful nan Frame’s 6GHz wireless streaming adapter arsenic a replacement for a beingness cord. In our little demos astatine Valve HQ, nan streaming worked highly well.

This whitethorn beryllium nan extremity for Valve’s lighthouse guidelines stations, which were really first released successful 2016 pinch the HTC Vive. If you’ve sewage lighthouse guidelines stations group up successful your location already, don’t expect to usage them pinch nan Frame anytime soon, if ever.

“With Steam Frame, we’re not moving connected lighthouse support for it,” nan says. Instead of sweeping a room pinch lasers for illustration nan lighthouses, nan Frame presently uses 4 monochrome cameras and IR illuminators to find its position successful 3D space, though it besides has a modular accessory larboard that could support further cameras.

The Stream Frame is group to motorboat successful early 2026. Valve hasn’t yet shared a circumstantial value for it, only telling america that it will beryllium cheaper than nan $999 Index.