Valve has mentioned its new Steam Body VR headset, regardless of costing practically £900 for a base mannequin, is meant to “broaden the market” of digital actuality headsets. That is each as a result of it is light-weight and standalone, but additionally as a result of it addresses a basic and long-running drawback VR headsets have had.
“For a very long time, VR has turned itself into an adjunct to your PC,” Valve software program engineer Jeremy Selan informed Eurogamer in an interview forward of Steam Body’s pricing announcement, “or within the case even of standalone, one thing that it’s a must to resolve to do first. Like, you may say, ‘I need to play a non-VR recreation on my TV or on my PC,’ or, ‘I need to go do this particular VR expertise.'” Regardless, it is an either-or state of affairs – one or the opposite.
“From the outset of this product, we had been actually seeking to do one thing new and to attempt to make clients not need to suppose in the event that they needed to do VR or non-VR video games,” Selan mentioned. Subsequently, a a lot greater emphasis has been put in your skill to simply swap between VR and non-VR video games – or motion pictures or internet looking – whereas utilizing the machine.
“The non-VR expertise is one thing that I exploit on a regular basis,” Selan went on, “and it is so comfy due to the ergonomics of the controllers, the lightweightness of the machine the place you may carry it and use it in a bunch of rooms. So I discover myself with this machine for the primary time placing it on, not even having determined what I will play.
“I’ve the Steam catalogue in entrance of me – in fact it is your laptop and you may set up non-Steam video games – and I may simply say, ‘Am I [in the mood for] this non-VR recreation? Am I within the temper for this VR expertise?’ And you may type of bounce backwards and forwards. And so this friction of ‘am I going to convey out my VR machine or not?’: should you’re already in it, the friction is zero. So I discover myself enjoying much more VR and much more non-VR merely due to the intermingling of this machine.”
Matt picked up on this level in his Steam Body overview, and it is these features, coupled with its bodily design, that make Steam Body doubtlessly a broader market machine, based on Valve. “It is completely our purpose to broaden the market,” Selans mentioned.
Valve {hardware} engineer Pleasure Lyons added: “The concept right here is that we need to have players be capable of entry extra content material by way of the Steam retailer and throughout all these totally different programs … We see this as a product that is rising. That is clearly an awesome product for our PC VR customers, and we love them and help them, that is for them, however we additionally see this as additionally a broadening of intent additionally for builders after which additionally for players simply to have extra entry to extra content material and a extremely type of premium expertise in a VR headset.”
Nonetheless, a base value of £889 for the 256GB Steam Body mannequin is a excessive hurdle to clear – a hurdle Valve’s Steam Machine needed to take care of earlier this yr. The element scarcity disaster is essentially liable for Steam Body’s delay from an early 2026 launch. “We very a lot needed to alter the value targets and the quantity targets and that is the truth,” Selan mentioned. “However we nonetheless imagine on the present pricing it is a tremendous compelling product. It is an awesome worth. It is an incredible piece of {hardware}.”
Pleasure Lyons added: “If all {hardware} is unaffordable then nobody is ready to take pleasure in or launch or do something. So, if something, it is extra essential to have the ability to present gear that we’re actually enthusiastic about and we predict strikes ahead the gaming expertise.”
Steam Body headset reservation sign-ups at the moment are open, which means that if you would like an opportunity to purchase the machine, you may enroll after which wait to see should you’re randomly chosen to order it – an ordering system Valve has used earlier than to deal with excessive demand and restricted provide. And you may learn Matt’s full Steam Body VR overview elsewhere on the positioning.