A new Steam Frame setup video leak hints at imminent release date

Hype is steadily building for the release of the Steam Frame and Steam Machine, and the latest leak to add to the fervor is a video showing the Steam Frame setup procedure. Although the video shows the setup being run on an old Valve Index, all of the prompts in the setup procedure clearly show references to the Steam Frame.

We fully expect the Steam Frame to be among the best VR headsets when it arrives, and Valve has already confirmed that will happen at some point "this summer." Just how good it'll be, and when exactly it will be available, are still questions yet to be answered, but this leak hints it could be sooner rather than later.

The Steam Frame and Steam Machine are the two remaining items yet to be launched from Valve's trio of new Steam hardware. The Steam Controller arrived a few weeks ago, to rapturous reviews - including our own Steam Controller review - and has since gone on to sell out.

Which one of the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will be next on the list is anybody's guess. But the current situation with high component pricing (such as for RAM, SSDs, and VRAM) might push Valve to launch the Steam Frame first, in the hope that it can see signs of component prices falling again, allowing it to charge less for the mini gaming PC. It's a slim chance, and it's more than likely that Valve has already long since paid for the production of the first few batches of Steam Machines, but you never know.

Back to the Steam Frame, and the new Welcome Tour setup video has appeared on Reddit, posted by user 'gogodboss' who notes the video is "courtesy LabeVR."

The video, available here, shows the headset view of a user who might be setting up their Steam Frame for the first time, with a screen overlaid on their surrounding view that shows a "Welcome to Steam Frame" message. This then prompts them to turn on the controllers, take a tour of the headset, and connect it to a PC. It finishes with a note saying "Have fun" and "We hope you enjoy your Steam Frame."

Of course, the veracity of this video can't be verified, and it's possible it could be AI-generated or edited. However, it would be quite a sophisticated fake, given the amount of motion, the stability of the text, and the spatial consistency of the room and interface.

In terms of the Steam Frame hardware, Valve has already detailed what the headset will include. Unlike the Valve Index, it will be a standalone headset that can play games away from a PC - effectively being something of a Steam Deck handheld on your face - but it can also hook up to a PC for higher fidelity gaming.

Its imaging hardware isn't cutting-edge, with its 2,160 x 2,160 LCD displays (one per eye) falling well behind the 2,880 x 2,880 displays of the Pimax Crystal Light, for instance. However, it's a big step up from the Valve Index, and this headset won't need the base stations of the old headset.