Valve has lastly unveiled its long-awaited standalone VR headset, Steam Body (aka ‘Deckard’). Whereas pricing and launch date are nonetheless pending, the corporate says we’re as a result of study extra “in early 2026” following the discharge of developer kits.
Steam Body is a compact standalone VR headset operating a Qualcomm Snapdragon Collection 8 Gen 3 (2023) CPU ARM processor, which natively runs SteamOS, Valve’s Linux-based working system featured on the Steam Deck handheld.
Like Deck, Body has vast compatibility to run most Steam content material, together with flat or PC VR video games. Which means you’ll be capable of run fashionable flatscreen video games, like Hades II (2025), in addition to some PC VR video games like Ghost City (2025) immediately on the headset itself—supplied they’re x86-based, which most are.
Granted, efficiency can be constrained by the standalone processing energy of Body’s Snapdragon chipset, though it marks the primary huge step in making PC VR content material really standalone.
The plain wrinkle proper now’s that the most demanding PC VR video games in all probability nonetheless want developer intervention to be really appropriate, which we’d count on to see with some kind of ‘Body Compatibility’ badge on Steam like Deck has now, indicating the sport (VR or in any other case) is each appropriate and runs fairly properly on the headset. Extra on that beneath.
That includes twin 2,160 × 2,160 LCD shows, which provide 72-120Hz refresh (144Hz experimental), Body boasts a area of view (FOV) of “as much as 110 levels” along with eye-tracking, pancake optics, and a rear-mounted battery connected to the headset’s removable headstrap.
Notably, the show, optics and computing ‘core’ of Body weighs in at 190g, or 435g in whole, which additionally contains the headstrap, rear-mounted battery, built-in off-ear audio system and facial interface. That ‘battery strap’ comes within the field, though an non-obligatory high strap piece can even accessible for buy, which the person can add for extra stability.
Passthrough is monochrome, which is a little bit of sore spot. Nonetheless, Body comes with a user-accessible enlargement port than can assist two 2.5Gbps cameras through a gen4 PCIe slot, which ought to depart room for hackers to do ever wilder issues.
As for content material, much like how Deck has a ‘Proton’ layer, which seamlessly permits most Home windows (x86) primarily based video games to run on the Linux (x86) primarily based SteamOS, Body’s Proton layer permits Home windows (x86) video games to run on its Linux (ARM) model of SteamOS.
That stated, Valve says Body is primarily designed to stream content material from a extra highly effective PC (together with the newly introduced Steam Machine). To do that, Body features a Wi-Fi 6E dongle that creates a direct connection between the PC and the headset for optimum streaming efficiency. The headset comes with a twin Wi-Fi antenna; 6GHz for streaming by means of the dongle/PC, and a 5GHz antenna for concurrently fetching information out of your Wi-Fi router.
Moreover, the corporate has created a foveated streaming expertise (comparable, however utilized broadly to all video streams) which makes use of the headset’s eye-tracking to dedicate many of the accessible bandwidth to the picture within the heart of the person’s imaginative and prescient. Basically, the person shouldn’t discover when Body is saving bandwidth, since your fovea is at all times served up the best decision. What else eye-tracking can be used for continues to be a thriller, as Valve hasn’t indicated anything past foveated streaming.
Battery life figures aren’t tacked down both but, it appears. Valve says it’s nonetheless optimizing battery lifetime of Body’s 21.6 Wh lithium ion battery for streaming to be as environment friendly as doable. The corporate notes that standalone battery life “can be far more variable, relying on the sport and its settings.”
In addition to the headset and headstrap, within the field can be a pair of movement controllers, which seem like the exact same leaked in November 2024, which characteristic enter parity with conventional gamepads—placing all 4 motion buttons on the appropriate controller, and a directional pad on the left.
The thought is to permit conventional video games to work seamlessly out of the field, whereas VR video games may have some minor configuring to place enter again at parity with Contact/Index controllers. Controllers embody full 6-DOF monitoring, capacitive finger sensing, magnetic thumbsticks, haptic suggestions, and replaceable AA batteries, that are quoted at a 40-hour life.
As for min-spec, Valve tells Highway to VR that if the host PC can run the sport performantly, will probably be “a very good expertise streaming to Steam Body.” That’s properly and good for conventional flatscreen video games, however no less than for PC VR content material, you’ll need one thing fairly beefy. Click on right here to seek out out in case your PC is VR-ready.
Furthermore, Valve says it’s persevering with to enhance its Body-flavored Proton layer and SteamOS to maximise compatibility. The final word objective is for video games to expire of the field with out developer work, though Valve can be delivery out developer kits within the meantime so studios can take a look at their video games on Steam Body and supply suggestions. That half is essential for PC VR builders to make sure their video games work on Body, or what kind of optimizations/person settings folks must make, since PC VR gaming is so useful resource intensive.
And sadly, as a result of Valve goes the dev equipment route, meaning Body doesn’t have a worth or launch date but. Valve says we’re slated to study extra “in early 2026.” Moreover, the corporate says it doesn’t have any first-party VR content material within the works.
Steam Body Specs
| Weight | 190g core, 435g (core, headstrap, incl. facial interface, audio, rear battery) |
| Chipset | Snapdragon Collection 8 Gen 3 (SM8650), 8 core CPU ARM processor (4nm) |
| RAM | 16GB Unified LPDDR5 RAM |
| Working System | SteamOS |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7, 2×2 – Twin 5Ghz/6Ghz streaming for simultaneous VR and Wi-Fi |
| Storage | 256GB / 1TB UFS storage choices |
| Expanded Storage | microSD card slot for prolonged storage (as much as 2TB) |
| Optics | Pancake optics |
| Show | 2,160 × 2,160 LCD (per eye), 72-120Hz refresh charge (144Hz experimental) |
| FOV | as much as 110 levels |
| Monitoring | 4x outward going through monochrome cameras for controller & headset monitoring |
| Darkish Setting Monitoring | Outward IR illuminator for darkish environments |
| Passthrough | Monochrome digital camera passthrough (1,280 × 1,024 decision) |
| Eye-tracking | 2x inside cameras for eye monitoring |
| Foveated Streaming | Eye-tracking drives video stream, sending highest decision to the place you’re wanting |
| Different | Wi-fi Adapter included, Wi-Fi 6E (6Ghz) |
| Audio | Twin speaker drivers (per ear), built-in into headstrap |
| Mic | Twin microphone array |
| Port | USB-C |
| Growth Port | Consumer accessible enlargement port – (2x 2.5Gbps digital camera interface / gen4 PCIe) |
| Battery | 21.6 Wh Li-On Battery |
Steam Body Controllers
- Full 6-DOF monitoring and IMU assist
- Capacitive finger sensing
- Magnetic thumbsticks (TMR) for improved precision, responsiveness and reliability
- Haptic suggestions
- Enter parity with conventional sport pad
- Replaceable AA battery (40hr life)
- Non-obligatory straps
Extra Steam Body Announcement Protection
Fingers-on: Steam Body Reveals Valve’s Fashionable Imaginative and prescient for VR and Rising {Hardware} Ambitions: We go hands-on with Valve’s newest and best VR headset but.
Steam Body’s Worth Hasn’t Been Locked in, However Valve Expects it to be ‘cheaper than Index’: No worth or launch date but, however Valve implies Steam Body can be cheaper than $1,000 for the total Index equipment.
Valve Says No New First-party VR Recreation is in Growth: Valve launched Half-Life: Alyx (2020) just a few months after releasing Index, however no such luck for first-party content material on Steam Body.
Valve is Open to Bringing SteamOS to Third-party VR Headsets: Steam Body is the primary VR headset to run SteamOS, but it surely might not be the final.
Valve Plans to Provide Steam Body Dev Kits to VR Builders: Steam Body isn’t right here but; Valve says it wants extra time with builders first to allow them to optimize their PC VR video games.
Valve Proclaims SteamOS Console and New Steam Controller, Designed with Steam Body Headset in Thoughts: Discover out why Valve’s new SteamOS-running Console and controller will work seamlessly with Steam Body.
Steam Body vs. Quest 3 Specs: Higher Streaming, Energy & Hackability: Quest 3 can do lots, however can it go toe-to-toe with Steam Body?
Steam Body vs. Valve Index Specs: Wi-fi VR Gameplay That’s Generations Forward : Valve Index was the go-to PC VR headset, however the instances have modified.
