t’s certainly been a journey for Valve. A week prior to the Steam Frame’s launch, we spoke with two engineers at Valve about the project: Joy Lyons, hardware engineer, and Jeremy Selan, software engineer. The memory crisis and the price were a big part of that conversation. From that chat, we can confirm that Valve had aimed for a lower price point than the one it’s launching the Frame for today.
Here’s Lyons on the memory crisis:
“We set out to design this hardware with one particular price in mind, but we’ve made choices to make sure that we’re making a product that is choiceful, that people can purchase, they can upgrade with different features later. But we wanted to make sure we had a base product with really great performance. Then that price target shifted due to the ongoing RAM crisis around the world.”
Lyons also said that forecasting for the cost of certain components used in the Steam Frame is an ongoing challenge.
Not exactly boding well of the Steam Deck 2.
Wow, $1100 for the entry level. I wouldn’t pay $500.
If you wouldn’t pay $500, then VR just isn’t for you. And that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s basically the baseline bottom of the barrel price for this type of device (and the ones priced like that come with a LOT of caveats), so if you wouldn’t pay that price, why are you even part of the discussion? You were never the target audience in the first place.
I am the target though as I’ve wanted to get a VR setup for awhile now. I can get a Quest 3 used for $320. $1100 is just pissing your money away.
Gamers Nexus went over the privacy concerns with the Meta Quest 3 and they’re arguably worse than LGs TV fiasco. That is the price you pay for cheaper devices in this market. I’d rather the extra price overhead rather than giving a corporation access to everything in my home with cameras and microphones attached to my face but that’s just me.
Have fun in Meta’s walled garden then…
Walled garden? It’s android and installing any APK is not prevented in any way. You can even run your own unsigned code.
The privacy violations, however, are an inexcusable showstopper.
The VR/AR SDK isn’t open so good luck making your own apps.
Android apps don’t work directly on it.
Bootloader cannot be unlocked.
You can’t use it without a Meta account.
For all intents and purposes it’s a walled garden.
It’s more the absolutely egregious privacy concerns than anything else. They’re selling them at a loss because they make up the difference by selling your data, and the data they collect is unreal.
That’s implied with the walled garden part. Meta keeps very tight control of the platform et al to ensure absolute datamining possibilities.
I will, thanks
He was insulting your intelligence. If you could comprehend, you might be upset.
I thought about the Quest 3 route but the idea of being locked into Meta’s bullshit environment is enough to drive me to the Frame, even at that price. It’s what burned me on the Quest 2, which was a really cool piece of tech but ruined by all that metaverse shit that ended up bloating my Q2 so bad it can’t even turn on.
Ya enjoy your locked ecosystem. There a reason the quest is so cheap. You aren’t getting anything worth it for 500$, especially not with the inflation in tech. What a silly thing to say.
Ya enjoy wasting $1100 on something that will collect dust 95% of the time you own it. You’ll never use any headset enough to justify that price. Just ask the Apple zombies. But it’s Gabe so better defend my favorite billionaire.
To be fair it won’t record everything happening at my house like me entering passwords on my keyboard while it collects dust. I won’t go to jail and be tortured to death because of steam frame, so I think in the modern world that’s a win.
At least you OWN the thing, not the other way around.
Bro, I hate Gaben and bash steam every chance I get. I’m not in the Gaben Simp Squad, believe me. It’s a good product though, same for the steam deck. Still a soft monopoly and the cunt has too many boats, but credit where credit is due.
I’m also not getting it because I’m simply not that into VR, at least at that price point. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad headset.
I’m sure it is a solid product, but charging $1100 when a comparable option can be found for half the price is insulting. Privacy concerns be damned, they all spy on you. VR is and will always be niche. This product will not appeal to general consumers. There is no killer app and it’s way out of price.
Honestly, what comparable options. I’ve looked. There’s the quest, but it’s sold at a loss, is honestly not very strong and it has a locked ecosystem which is a real boner killer imo.
Honest question: why don’t you get that cheap Quest3 then?
Better lens and better screen resolution.
What you seem to be saying is that you want to pay an entry-level price for an enthusiast tier device, and like… yeah, we all would, but we don’t realistically expect anyone to sell it to us for that price.
Ah misread that. I thought they meant the Quest 3S which has the inferior lens and screen resolution. The Quest 3 resolution is very close to the Steam Frame and I can get one for around $300.
Sure - the primary strikes against the Quest 3 are the absolutely egregious privacy concerns, and the closed ecosystem. If neither of those are dealbreakers for you, go get one.
Then no, you are not the target then. If you cannot afford it, then it isn’t for you.
I can afford it, I’m just not dumb enough to pay it.
Seems to me this is just not something that interests you. Why are you so down on others for enjoying something you wouldnt?
Mostly because you can’t speak ill of valve or the Gabe cucks come out in droves. Its pathetic to see lemmings simping for another shit billionaire. I guess that’s to be expected from gaming “culture.”
Gatekeeping who can post or join the discussion? Yeah, its not the most useful but they can comment. Completely vibes based, I would also say around 500-700 dollars would be a more comfortable price than 1.1k. At four figures its very off putting even if it is its own standalone system because of the type of device it is. I had hoped for a price that the broader market would accept rather than just VR enthusiasts too much like the person you responded to.
I’m not gatekeeping who can participate, I was asking why they would want to participate, particularly with a comment that just amounts to ‘I wouldn’t buy this device at any price it would reasonably have been priced at’. Like, okay, but then why are you here?
It was originally forecast (by Valve) at “less than $1000”, which to me meant $900-$1000. I’m not pleased with the current price, either, but it was never going to be $500, not in the best possible case scenario.
That less than 1000 announcement had me mentally pricing it at 600-800. Which is more reasonable if a little expensive. Four figures is prohibitive for most people. Just because its Valve, and supply chains are fucked, doesn’t mean this is a good deal or that Valve needs protecting. We know they got fucked too. This is still really expensive. Especially when I already have a computer than can do everything but the VR part. But either way, they can come in here, say their piece and get downvoted, but being like “WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE” is an overreaction to someone just saying their piece on a public forum in any case.
It’s a decision of conscience. Do you:
I know where i will be spending my cash.
Edit: one of the reviewers of the comparison between the Quest 3 and the Frame at GN started getting advertisements on his private phone for VR stuff after working with the Quest. That’s the level of privacy the Quest offers you: none.
How are we in the year 2026 and still not realizing every single device connected to the internet is spying on you? No corporation respects you, their fiduciary duty is to extract as much wealth from you as possible. This is why the Gabe cultists are so disappointing. Sure, Valve is the best of the gaming industry, but that’s like being the least smelly shit sandwich.
Valve was very open regarding what information they collect. Outside of the data they already process via the steam client like what games you are playing to make fitting store recommendations, they only receive any operational data from the Frame when you send bug reports, which you must approve for every single one of them. I have a Steam account now since HalfLife2 has released with over 1400 titles in it, and i never got any ads on my phone for even a single PC game.
Hey if you can justify $1100 towards some plastic that will collect dust more power to ya. I don’t trust Valve’s word like I don’t trust Meta’s. They’re all the same corporation at the end of the day. $300 is a lot more digestible for something that’s really still a curiosity and won’t replace traditional gaming. I’m mostly just disappointed so many here are defending this corporate slop.
I will pay extra for devices that don’t spy on me. There’s a market for it, and I’m the target audience. If I don’t fork out for devices that respect my privacy, they won’t exist in the future, and I can kiss goodbye the chance of ever having a full suite of devices that aren’t constantly selling every moment of my life to advertisers and whoever else wants it.
My next phone will probably run GrapheneOS. My car is a 2016 hatchback that I removed the OnStar module from myself. I don’t have Alexa, I don’t have a smart home, I don’t have a Ring doorbell. My laptop is a Framework that I’m strongly considering installing Linux on as its primary OS. Every computer I use has Firefox as its browser with multiple privacy-focused plugins. Your argument is shit and you should feel bad for making it. More devices that respect privacy is better, and just throwing your hands up and saying ‘They all do it, give up!’ is both idiotic and counter-productive.
If youre interested Gamernexus did a review alongside metaquest3. I value my privacy, to that end I’m full-on leaning toward Frame, additional cost up front is nothing compared to what would be lost with Zucks VR iteration, in my mind. No one should tell you how to spend your money though, friend.