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.
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.