Valve Enters VR Hardware Market with Valve Index, Releases July 31

Virtual Reality is a hard thing to gauge. While VR sales have slowly increased over the years, in no small part thanks to Sony’s PlayStation VR that became an entry level device for many, there still remains a barrier due to the expense and hardware needed to run it properly. While Sony and Nintendo have opted for cheaper alternatives, other VR headsets are still out of reach for a lot of consumers. That’s not stopping Valve, though, from entering the market with the Valve Index.

It’s long been rumored that Valve would step into the VR hardware business (Steam already supports VR games) for a while now, but it’s now official, with them revealing the Index headset. It’s on the high-end side, to compete with HTC’s Vive and Vive Pro, and focused on gaming. It’s priced to match, too. The headset alone costs $499. The Index controllers for the system cost $279 (or bundled with the headset for $749). There’s also a base station available for $149. If you want to get all three of those bundled together, it will set you back $999. It’s also worth noting that the base and controllers are also compatible with Vive VR headsets.

For pictures and more details, you can check out Valve’s dedicated Steam page for the Index here. The controllers and base will be available June 28^th if you want to use them with other VR headets. The Index headset itself and the bundles including it will launch July 31^st.