Valve is a company known for its mystery, whether in the game or in the field of virtual reality (VR), the company has rarely revealed its development plans. However, a recent Steam client update hinted that the company is secretly developing a long-awaited standalone VR headset.
Technical analyst and Steam data-mining expert Brad Lynch has discovered that the latest update to the Steam client contains some VR-specific strings related to batteries, which seems to support the rumor that Valve is currently working on a platform for some sort of standalone VR headset.
The update also mentions that some new UI elements, icons, and animations have been added to the VR portion of the Steam client, which is not supposed to be for a rival headset.
Meanwhile, Korea’s National Radio Research Agency (RAA) recently certified a “low-power wireless device” from Valve. It’s not clear if the device is actually a standalone VR headset, as the radio certification only mentions that it uses the 5 GHz wireless band.
Valve hasn’t publicly announced that it’s working on a standalone VR headset, but with competition from Apple and Meta growing, it’s likely that the company will launch the “standalone Index” in 2024. Valve Index is widely regarded as the best headset for PC VR, with excellent quality, performance and comfort.
Valve boss Gabe Newell called his Steam Deck handheld “a stepping stone to standalone VR hardware,” saying that the Steam Deck represented “battery-capable, high-performance horsepower that can be used for VR apps. capable, high-performance horsepower” for VR apps.
