Valve simply introduced the Steam Body, a brand new standalone VR headset that may each stream video games from a PC and play video games domestically due to an onboard Arm chip. The headset is sort of a bit totally different from Valve’s earlier mannequin, the Index, which needed to be tethered to a gaming laptop with a bodily wire. But it surely additionally stands out from lots of different main VR headsets available on the market proper now, just like the Meta Quest 3, Samsung Galaxy XR, and Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional.
A giant means the Body separates itself from the pack is its give attention to streaming your video games. That’s all made potential due to a wi-fi dongle that comes with each Body: plug it into your PC, and you’ll stream each your flat and VR video games to the headset over a low-latency connection. I obtained to attempt the streaming for myself at Valve’s headquarters whereas enjoying Half-Life: Alyx, and I didn’t discover any discernible lag.
You can too play video games proper on the Body itself as a result of Valve has gotten SteamOS engaged on Arm; the headset is supplied with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. Different headsets can play video games domestically, too — sometimes video games constructed particularly for his or her respective platforms. However the Body is definitely capable of run Home windows x86 code and recompile it in actual time utilizing an emulator, which means {that a} huge quantity of the Steam library will likely be playable instantly on the headset with out you or any builders having to do something.
That mentioned, you shouldn’t count on to have the ability to play high-end video games domestically on the Body. Valve designer Lawrence Yang tells The Verge that builders ought to goal decrease efficiency than they’d for a recreation on Steam Deck. The Body’s real-time emulation may have an effect on efficiency; whereas enjoying Hole Knight: Silksong and Hades II on the headset, each of that are comparatively lower-end video games, I noticed some stutters that I by no means see on my Steam Deck. (In keeping with Valve {hardware} engineer Jeremy Selan, this was a bug and the corporate expects to make enhancements main as much as and after launch.)
Valve isn’t sharing a value simply but, however {hardware} engineer Gabe Rowe did inform The Verge that the corporate is aiming for a value that’s lower than the Index. Meta’s Quest 3 prices $499.99, whereas the Samsung Galaxy XR and Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional — two headsets which have higher-resolution micro-OLED shows and sensors that help coloration passthrough — value $1,799.99 and $3,499, respectively. When you’re curious how that each one compares to the outgoing Index, we’ve whipped up a comparability beneath; Valve offered the Index for $999 with the required controllers and base stations.
Valve is about to launch the Steam Body in early 2026. I just lately obtained to attempt it at Valve’s headquarters, and I feel the corporate is on to something.