Valve Ends Production of Index VR Hardware, Discounts Remaining Stock

Valve has ended production of the Valve Index, its PC-tethered virtual reality headset system, and said remaining Index headsets, controllers and accessories are available at a discount while supplies last. The company announced the move on October 13, 2026, in “Valve Index Sunset”, a post on the Steam Hardware news channel.

Valve told existing owners their hardware is unaffected. “If you already own an Index, nothing changes – it is still supported on Steam and SteamVR,” the company wrote. It directed owners who need help with their hardware to Steam Support’s Valve Index help page.

The announcement follows Valve’s launch of Steam Frame on September 14, 2026, when reservations for the headset opened. Valve describes Steam Frame as a wireless VR headset and controllers built for both VR and non-VR gameplay, designed for streaming a user’s full Steam library with stand-alone play support. At launch, Valve listed Steam Frame at $1,059 for the 256GB model and $1,299 for the 1TB model, with Half-Life: Alyx included, and said more than 100 games were already Steam Frame Standalone Verified.

Remaining Stock and Store Terms

Valve’s Index store page on Steam lists the full Valve Index VR Kit at $999.00, marked out of stock. The Headset + Controllers bundle is listed at $749.00, also out of stock. The headset on its own is listed at $499.00 and remains available to add to cart, with an estimated delivery of three to five business days.

Index Controllers are listed at $279.00, out of stock; the page notes they require a Vive, Vive Pro or Valve Index headset, base stations and a PC. The Valve Index Base Station is listed at $149.00, also out of stock, with two or more recommended. Among replacement parts, the replacement left controller at $149.00 and the replacement tether at $129.00 remain available to add to cart with estimated delivery of three to five business days, while the replacement right controller at $149.00 and a two-pack of headset face gaskets at $39.99 are marked out of stock.

The store page states that Valve Index purchases are limited to one per customer, and that Half-Life: Alyx comes free with the finalized purchase of any headset or controller item. It notes that estimated shipping dates are subject to change and are updated frequently, and that all orders are processed in the order they are received.

Listed system requirements call for Windows 10, SteamOS or Linux; 8 GB or more of RAM; an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or AMD RX 480 or better with a DisplayPort connection, with HDMI not supported; a dual-core CPU with hyperthreading; and USB 3.0 or better for the headset cameras.

The Hardware Leaving Production

According to Valve’s Index headset product page, the headset uses dual 1440 x 1600 LCD panels with full RGB per pixel and an ultra-low-persistence global backlight. The headset runs at 120Hz with full backwards compatibility to 90Hz, plus an experimental 144Hz mode, and the spec sheet lists 80, 90, 120 and 144Hz operation with an illumination window of 0.330ms to 0.530ms depending on framerate. Valve says the RGB layout provides 50% more subpixels than OLED for greater sharpness at the same rendering cost, and describes the low-persistence illumination as a five-times improvement over first-generation PC VR headsets.

The double-element lenses cant outward by 5 degrees, and Valve says the optics give a typical user 20 degrees more field of view than the HTC Vive. Interpupillary distance adjusts physically across a 58mm to 70mm range, and head size, eye relief and speaker positions are also adjustable. The face gasket attaches magnetically for cleaning and swapping, and the headset’s soft surfaces use a woven antimicrobial fabric.

Built-in 37.5mm off-ear Balanced Mode Radiator speakers carry a listed frequency response of 40Hz to 24kHz, alongside a 3.5mm auxiliary headphone output and a dual microphone array rated at 20Hz to 24kHz. The headset also carries stereo 960 x 960 global-shutter RGB cameras, and a front expansion compartment Valve calls the Frunk houses a USB 3 Type-A port. The headset connects through a 5m tether with a 1m breakaway trident connector carrying DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.0 and 12V power, and it tracks through SteamVR 2.0 sensors compatible with both SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 base stations.

Valve’s Index controllers product page lists 87 sensors in each controller, tracking hand position, finger position, motion and pressure. Valve says the controllers constantly re-calibrate to match the user’s hand size and changing skin capacitance, and that the sensor set supports open-handed grabbing, dropping and throwing. Listed inputs are A and B buttons, a system button, a trigger, a thumbstick, a track button with a force sensor, a grip force sensor, finger tracking and an IMU, with HD LRA haptics.

The controllers connect over USB-C and 2.4GHz wireless, and an adjustable strap with a pivot allows them to be worn rather than held. Each controller carries an 1100mAh lithium-ion polymer battery rated at seven or more hours with 900mA fast charging, and like the headset they track through SteamVR 2.0 sensors compatible with SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 base stations.