Valve, the American video game company known for its Steam digital distribution platform, has announced the release of its new VR headset, the Steam Frame. The device will be available for purchase starting soon, but its price tag is as high as its predecessor, the Steam Machine, which launched earlier this year for £879. The Steam Frame comes in two versions: one with 256GB of storage for £889 and another with 1TB of storage for £1,089. Each purchase includes a pair of controllers and a copy of the VR-exclusive game Half-Life: Alyx, released in 2020. However, buyers must first sign up for a lottery before September 17 at 4pm BST, with only a limited number of units available for purchase. This method was also used for pre-orders of the Steam Machine, which quickly sold out. The high prices for the Steam Frame and other Valve hardware come at a time of global shortages in computer memory, particularly RAM, a critical component in gaming and computing devices. These shortages have driven up the cost of gaming hardware across the board, from consoles to PCs. Joy Lyons, a hardware engineer at Valve, explained that the company had originally aimed for a more affordable price point for the Steam Frame. However, the ongoing memory crisis forced the price to increase. “We wanted to make sure we had a base product with really great performance,” she told PC Gamer, “but the price target shifted due to the ongoing RAM crisis.” Valve’s other product, the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming device, has also been affected by the memory shortage. It saw a £200 price increase in May, raising its cost to £669. Despite this, the company has not abandoned its plans for a successor, the Steam Deck 2. Software developer Pierre-Loup Griffais told IGN that the company is still committed to improving performance and user experience for a future version. However, with the Steam Deck already considered a niche product and sales likely impacted by the price increase, it’s unclear if there will be much demand for a more expensive follow-up. VR gaming, which the Steam Frame targets, remains a niche market compared to traditional console and PC gaming. While Valve continues to push forward with its hardware initiatives, the high costs and limited market interest pose challenges. The company’s efforts to innovate in hardware are met with both enthusiasm and skepticism, as consumers weigh the value of high-end products against their steep prices.