A Steam Deck, but for your face? The latest rumors about Valve's new VR headset are pretty exciting

If you've be💙en wai🌱ting for the Valve Index 2, you might be in luck

A patent for a Valve VR headset on a white background
(Image credit: Valve)

It's been nearly six years since Valve released the Index, a PC gaming VR headset that's still praised today as one of the best ever made. In that time, the VR landscape has change🅺d massively though, and devices from the Valve Index era that launched with motion tracking base stations and frustrating cables are starting to show their age.

It's been rumored for a while that Valve is secretly working on a successor to the Valve Index, and new leaks put it in position to challenge the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best VR headsets on the market today. Codenamed "Deckard", the headset is touted to be a standalone, wireless device like the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Meta Quest 3 or 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Pico 4 Ultra. It's also got controllers with the codename "Roy", so Apple Vision Pro's hand-tracking approach doesn't seem to be what Valve is chas๊ing.

According to the latest speculation from , who has a track record of knowing Valve's upcoming projects, the Valve Index successor could hit the shelves before the end of 2025 and might cost $1,200. This would put it in a more expensive category of headset, way more than the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Meta Quest 3S's affordable $299 asking price, but only $200 more than 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:HTC Vive's Focus Vision headseꦕt. For that money, you'll supposedly get the headset, controllers, and s🤪ome "first-party games or demos", according to Gabe Follower.

Steam Deck OLED next to original LCD launch model on woodgrain table

(Image credit: Future / Phil Hayton)

Deckard is also rumored to run on a refined version of SteamOS, the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Steam Deck OLED's operating system. That'd definitely give Meta's Horizon OS a run for its money, and according to some sources, the new Valve device would put a big emphasis on being able to play flatscreen games on a virtual big screen like PSVR 2 and its 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:excellent cinematic mode.

found SteamV꧂R driver files attesting to their existence. These look very reminiscent of Meta and Pico's latest generation of VR controllers and abandon the tracking rings of the original Valve Index.

The leaked Valve Roy controllers for its unconfirmed, upcoming VR headset

(Image credit: Valve)

Interestingly, Gabe Follower notes that even at a price of $1,200, the headset would be sold at a loss, which goes hand-in-hand with what many competitors say of Meta's Quest headsets. It also suggests that the innards of the Valve Index sequel might be🌌 on the beefier side, which suits the PC market it'd likely attract first and foremost.

While there's been no confirmation from Valve about these leaks, or indeed the existence of a "Valve Index 2", it's been a known project for a while, with Valve CEO Gabe Newell even that his company was "making b🍌ig investments in new headsets".