According to a new rumor, Valve’s Deckard Virtual Reality headset might be launching before the end of the year at a rather steep price. The info comes from Valve-focused insider and content creator Gabe Follower, who tweeted:
Several people have confirmed that Valve is aiming to release new standalone, wireless VR headset (codename Deckard) by the end of 2025. The current price for the full bundle is set to be $1200. Including some “in-house” games (or demos) that are already done. Valve want to give the user the best possible experience without cutting any costs. Even at the current price, it will be sold at a loss. A few months ago, we saw leaked models of controllers (codename Roy) in the SteamVR update. It will be using the same SteamOS from Steam Deck, but adapted for virtual reality. One of the core features is the ability to play flat-screen game that are already playable on Steam Deck, but in VR on a big screen without a PC. The first behind closed doors presentations could start soon.
We last reported on the matter in September 2023, when an unannounced Valve-made hardware device was certified in South Korea. Previously, in late 2022, Valve had kind of confirmed they were developing a new Virtual Reality headset via Product Designer Greg Coomer, who said at the time:
I can definitely say that we are continuing to develop VR headsets recently. Valve has a lot of expertise in VR devices and has faith in the medium and VR games. We hope to remain open on PC platforms rather than having VR games exclusively on a certain platform. While adhering to this belief, we are continuing development.
The Valve Index launched on the VR market in June 2019, priced at $999 (€1079 in Europe). For a while, it was the most advanced VR headset available, and Valve also bundled it with Half-Life: Alyx. The game won several awards for its quality. Even so, sale volumes remained niche.
Shortly after the release of the Index, Valve founder Gabe Newell talked about an untethered VR headset, admitting that the company was looking into ways to do that. Based on the leaks and rumors, Deckard should definitely deliver on that front with a fully wireless standalone headset. The rumored $1200 pricing is also pretty much the same as the Index when aligned for inflation. It appears that Valve is once again aiming for the smaller high-end segment rather than going for a broader market, as Meta has attempted to do with the Quest 3 and Quest 3S.
