AC thVRsday
In his weekly column, Android Central Senior Content Producer Nick Sutrich delves into all things VR, from new hardware to new games, upcoming technologies, and so much more.
Last night, I lay in bed playing Lumines Arise til my arms started to ache from holding my Steam Deck in the air. This afternoon, I placed my Meta Quest 3 on my head and seamlessly continued my progress in the game, this time with an unparalleled sense of immersion that my Steam Deck could never hope to offer.
The Steam Frame, as the new VR headset is called, is a standalone “Steam Deck for your face” that plays VR and non-VR games alike. It doesn’t care how you want to play games or what you want to play; it just wants you to play them everywhere and gives you full access to the Steam library you already own, making it a powerful addition to any gamer’s household.
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Play what you want, how you want, when you want it
The real beauty in products like the Steam Frame isn’t inherently the hardware, although PC Gamer’s hands-on delves into Valve’s engineering mastery and what makes this headset stand out from the rest. No, the real draw here is the versatility of the Steam library.
When I finish a long day of work but recognize that I need physical exercise or movement and not another few hours of sitting on my butt, picking up a Steam Frame and playing a great VR game may just be the answer. Other times, I might want to wind down for the night in bed with a round of Peglin or solving some puzzles in Islands of Insight on my Steam Deck. No matter what, Steam has my back.
For me, it’s this versatility that matters most. Sony is close to having a similar ecosystem with the PS5, but the company falls short in several ways. The PSVR 2 requires a cord to work, online multiplayer requires a monthly paid subscription, and Sony’s digital games purchasing policy is squarely anti-consumer. Valve’s ecosystem suffers from none of these issues.
Like the Meta Quest, Valve’s game purchase and return policy is second to none. Don’t like a game or want to return it for any reason? You have two weeks from the purchase date or two hours of “trial play,” whichever comes first. It’s great, and it makes me feel good about spending money on digital games that I’ll never have the chance to sell.
The PS5 has the ability to play physical games, but many games only get digital distribution, particularly the indie titles I enjoy playing most, meaning this isn’t a situation where the PS5 has a full advantage.
The obvious upside of an all-digital library is that I can play my games on any hardware I want, which is something Steam is particularly well-suited for. The Steam OS that runs on Steam Deck and Steam Frame is built to play any Steam game, even ones made for X86-based PCs. The only real hamstring is the hardware power, which will require you to use a PC or cloud service to stream more detailed games.
Valve even thought of that when building the Steam Frame, as it includes a dedicated streaming USB stick in the box. This stick enables not only Wi-Fi 6E-grade wireless bandwidth, but it also uses a dedicated antenna on the Steam Frame to stream your PC games wirelessly to the headset. That ensures you never run into network traffic issues on your home network since it bypasses that completely.
The Meta Quest 3 can also stream any Steam game from your PC to the headset, including using a dedicated wireless streaming box like this one I’ve been testing for months, but the Quest wasn’t purpose-built for this and doesn’t provide the same ultra-high quality streaming that Steam Frame can.
What’s more is that Steam Frame can sideload Android APKs just like the Meta Quest series can. Steam Frame isn’t running Android, but Valve’s unique Proton and FEX emulation layers allow it to run Android apps and games just as well as it can run Windows apps and games, something that gives the Frame a unique position in the market.
Samsung’s recently released Galaxy XR headset can also run Android apps natively since it uses the Android XR operating system and has a unique advantage in that area since it comes with Google services built in. Some apps don’t work at all without Google services, which is why this sort of thing never caught on with Meta Quest owners despite its ability to run Android apps natively.
Now that I’ve brought up the Quest 3, it’s important to take a look at the two of them side-by-side and see which one is more worth your money. The biggest issue right now is that we don’t know the price of the Steam Frame, although Valve says it’s aiming to come in at under the $999 price of its previous headset, the Valve Index.
So we’ll throw price out the window for now and just look at the biggest experiential differences between the two systems. The Meta Quest 3 is purpose-built for VR and mixed reality games. Meta owns just over half a dozen game development studios and uses them to pump out AAA VR games like Batman: Arkham VR, Deadpool VR, Asgard’s Wrath 2, and even helps fund titles like Assassin’s Creed VR, Thief VR, Metro Awakening, and more.
Valve doesn’t fund any VR game development and isn’t even making a new VR game, which means the latest and greatest is still the 5-year-old Half-Life: Alyx. That also means we’re not getting Portal VR, Counter-Strike VR, Team Fortress VR, DOTA VR, or any other Valve IP I forgot about. If you want AAA VR gaming, the Meta Quest is the obvious headset to buy.
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If you’re more interested in modding VR games like Fallout 4, Skyrim, or just playing VR Chat with the Steam Frame’s built-in eye tracking, Valve’s headset might be right for you. With a 144Hz display and lighter build, the Frame is designed with PCVR games in mind from the start. Valve calls it a “streaming-first headset” because it recognizes that Steam VR players primarily use the platform to play visually complex games, something a standalone system cannot compete with.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t play these VR games without a PC. The company hasn’t offered long enough play sessions to make an opinion on this yet, but my guess is that most PCVR games will run fine enough on the Frame in local processing mode, so long as you turn the visuals down. For someone like me, that’s just fine. I use a Steam Deck because I prefer the ability to play anywhere I want. Graphics simply aren’t high on my list of priorities.
Both Valve and Meta have crafted headsets that are designed to be modular, but the Steam Frame seems like it’ll win a competition in this area. The front module of the Steam Frame can be easily removed, which contains the lenses and all computing elements. It’s just 190g for that module since there’s no battery inside, ensuring this headset can be used for years to come without having battery issues.
Valve also designed the controllers to be a fascinating hybrid of a traditional gaming controller and VR motion controllers. Time will tell if this was a good idea or not, but the company says, “We see it just as a new way to play your entire Steam library,” which makes this decision a lot more sense. Given that controllers are easily mappable natively in Steam, this should work nicely for VR titles, too.
The problem here is that the Steam Frame only has black and white passthrough vision out of the box, while the Meta Quest 3 has full color passthrough. That means there’s no chance you’ll want to play non-VR games on a Steam Frame while seeing your room, and that’s going to be a huge disadvantage for Valve until a color passthrough add-on is sold. Yes, Valve made a port for camera add-ons on the headset.
Whether or not Steam Frame gives PCVR a development boost is up in the air, but it may not take much to move that needle. The Steam Deck, as popular as it seems, has only sold around 5 million units to date, yet it has significantly influenced the world of PC games development in a way that prior PC handheld hardware didn’t.
Regardless of its influence over the PC VR space, I’m excited to play hybrid VR titles like Lumines Arise on this. Being able to play the same game in my bed with a Steam Deck before going to sleep or be fully immersed in it with a Steam Frame is an incredible value proposition, and it makes my Steam library feel even more valuable than it already did. I can’t say the same about any other gaming ecosystem on the market.
FAQ
What is the Steam Frame?
The Steam Frame is a new standalone VR headset from Valve, designed to play both VR and non-VR games from your existing Steam library. It is expected to launch in early 2026.
How much does the Steam Frame cost?
Valve has not revealed exact pricing for the Steam Frame, but the company is aiming for a price below $999.
What unique design feature does the Steam Frame have?
The Steam Frame is designed to be modular. The front module, which contains the lenses and all computing elements (but no battery), is removable and is very light at just 190g. This modular design is intended to extend the product’s lifespan.
Can Steam Frame run Half-Life: Alyx?
Yes, the Steam Frame can run Half-Life: Alyx by streaming from a PC using an adapter. The streaming stick that ships with the headset uses a dedicated wireless antenna that aims to deliver the best wireless streaming quality from your PC and uses foveated rendering to deliver the highest resolution and bit rate possible.
Does the Steam Frame support Android apps?
Yes, while Google Play Services isn’t officially available on the Steam Frame, Android apps and games can be sideloaded to the headset and run via Proton and FEX emulation layers.