Meta VR headset

Meta

Valve is working on a VR headset that could become the most serious rival to the Meta Quest 3, and judging by the latest rumors it will be a whole lot more powerful too.

A recent Q+A broadcast by Valve insider Tyler McVicker made headlines for its reporting on the potential near-imminent arrival of Half-Life 3. But he also had things to say about the Deckard VR headset from Valve.

McVicker says the headset it will be able to play Half-life: Alyx natively, suggesting it has a powerful integrated processor capable of managing fairly advanced visuals and physics simultaneously.

Half-Life: Alyx was released in 2020 and has gained a reputation as the greatest VR game to date. But to date no standalone headset has been able to play it. The game is heavy enough to require an at least moderately powerful PC and graphics card.

Valve has become more intimately involved with mobile-grade PC hardware thanks to the Steam Deck, originally released in 2022. But while the Steam Deck has the power to play Half-Life: Alyx, it can’t deliver anything near to the kind of frame rates required for a comfortable VR experience.

When this news is combined with other recent Valve Deckard rumors, the whole project starts to sound quite exciting.

In April, it was reported components of the headset had entered production, suggesting not only that it will not be out before too long, but that it may also be too late for Valve to shelve the headset.

This news came from YouTuber Brad Lynch, who claimed parts were set to be imported into the US to produce the facial interfaces that make your face meet the VR headset itself.

Valve’s Deckard is also expected to offer PC VR-style streaming, because even if it does have an impressive onboard processor, it does need to compete with the versatility of the Quest 3 and PS VR 2.

An earlier report from February of 2025 also suggested Valve intends to sell the Deckard for $1200, and do so by the end of the year. This would be a challenging cost for those who would already struggle to justify a Meta Quest 3. But just as Valve played it fairly safe with the Steam Deck pricing, it sounds like Deckard won’t get anywhere near as expensive as the Apple Vision Pro.

That said, these leaks appeared before the current regime of tariffs were announced, and final pricing may not be significant different as a result.