Virtual actuality.

After years of rumours, and 10 months since its official unveiling, Valve's long-awaited standalone VR headset, Steam Frame, is poised to begin shipping soon, and with a confirmed starting price of £889.

Frame marks Valve's first VR headset since 2019's Index, and it represents a significant upgrade in almost every regard - from better screens and substantially reduced weight to movement and position tracking that's now handled on-device rather than external base stations.

Its improvements are perhaps less dramatic compared to more modern consumer VR headsets like Meta Quest 3, but they're still notable and you can find full specs on Valve's website. I've been playing with Frame for around two weeks at this point, incidentally, and you'll find more detailed impressions of the device in my Steam Frame review.

The most important bit of today's announcement, then, is probably the price, given Valve's has talked extensively about the tech before. And you'll be able to pick up a Frame with 256GB of storage for £889/€1,049/$1,059 USD (that's around £340 more than a 512GB Quest 3 for some vague comparison), while the 1TB model costs £1,089/€1,279/$1,299. Whichever version you opt for, you get the Steam Frame headset in the box, alongside the attached battery which lives round the back of your head, two controllers, a spacer, a charging cable, and a dongle - which is used for Frame's party trick: the ability to stream games directly from your PC with minimal fuss.

Frame is also being sold alongside a number of first- and third-party optional extras. A PSU from Valve costs £29/€39/$29, and there's an Ergonomic Accessories Kit that's an additional £59/€69/$59 and includes a headstrap, controller handstraps, handstrap battery doors, and an extended light blocker. Also confirmed is a £49/€59/$49 Accessory Replacement Kit, containing a replacement face gasket, head cushion, and light blocker. During an interview with Valve, word of an "enthusiast" accessories pack coming after launch also surfaced. It's said to include a "premium" audio solution and another swappable battery pack, but that's not something Valve's PR has confirmed.

As for Valve's official third-party partnerships, Zenni Optical is offering snap-in prescription lenses for around $67.95 a pair, and, if you're not happy with Frame's default monochrome passthrough camera, Arcturus has created a "truly plug-and-play" full-colour camera upgrade for £129/€157/$149.

So that's the pricing, but what if you want to actually buy one? Valve has confirmed it's adopting a similar approach to Steam Machine's reservation system. As such, anyone interested in purchasing a Steam Frame can sign up for the model they'd like to purchase between today, 14th September, and Thursday, 17th at 6pm BST/10am Pacific Time.

Once that deadline has passed, Valve will do a "one-time randomisation" to determine reservation and waitlist order. When the process is complete, customers will receive an email on the 17th indicating whether they've made the reservation list or waitlist. Anyone who misses the initial sign-up deadline will automatically be added to the back of the waitlist and be notified once they're moved to the reservation queue.

As to when shipping starts, it's not entirely clear, but Valve says it expects to send the first batch of purchase emails out on 18th September, with more going out as additional units are ready to ship.

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