Steam’s creators have confirmed a mysterious new project, and VR enthusiasts are already buzzing with speculation. Valve has trademarked the name “Steam Frame,” and gamers believe it could be their next leap into virtual reality hardware.
Valve could easily sit back and enjoy the billions that Steam rakes in every year, but the company has no intention of standing still. Between fresh updates for its PC storefront and new hardware experiments, it seems the studio always has something brewing. Now, a newly registered trademark hints at what might be their next big device.
As noted by Gabe Follower on X, a well-known Valve watcher, the company has filed to protect the name “Steam Frame.” The documentation suggests it covers “computer hardware, networking equipment, peripherals, and hardware/software for reproducing, processing, and transmitting sound, video, data, text, and multimedia content.” A second filing extends the scope to “video game consoles, recreational gaming systems, and accessories such as controllers.”
That’s all that’s official so far. Speculation, however, has quickly filled in the blanks. According to Gabe Follower, sources indicate that “Steam Frame” is in fact the commercial name of Valve’s long-rumored next VR headset, formerly nicknamed Deckard. While this remains unconfirmed, it’s worth remembering that the Valve Index is now more than six years old, and the VR sector has advanced dramatically since then. Back in 2021, Valve itself admitted it was making “major investments” in VR hardware and software, so the timing fits.
Why a Steam Deck 2 Still Isn’t on the Horizon
Regardless of what “Steam Frame” turns out to be, it’s clear that Valve isn’t slowing down in the hardware arena. But the company has been blunt about its handheld strategy: there won’t be a Steam Deck 2 until the upgrades are significant enough to “justify the purchase” for players. In other words, when Valve does unveil a successor, it won’t just be a minor revision—it’ll mark a generational shift, much like what we may soon see in their push for VR.
Source: 3djuegos
