Datamine reveals Valve working on a standalone VR headset

While the VR industry is still relatively small when compared to the likes of console gaming, the niche market has found success in the standalone headset subcategory – namely the Oculus quest 2. It seems Valve is betting on standalone headsets too, as a data mine has revealed that the company is working on a Standalone headset.

As reported by VR-focused YouTuber ‘SadlyItsBradely’ recent data mining of SteamVR has uncovered what appears to be proof that Valve is working on a standalone VR headset. Codenamed the Valve Deckard, this standalone VR headset has been rapidly gaining ‘steam’ since it was first inserted into the coding.

The information discovered here was able to be backtracked and connected to many previous patents, leaks and rumours, revealing that this standalone headset may offer Varifocal lenses; eye tracking; head tracking for predictive rendering and more.

Furthermore, while no chipset was specified, the notion of a standalone Valve headset lines up with other rumours which previously suggested that internally, Valve has made a version of Half Life: Alyx which ran on a standalone headset – possibly in preparation for this device (and suggesting that the chipset will be rather powerful). Recently, a Valve hardware lead suggested that the Steam Deck APU could be used for a standalone VR device, and even confirmed that standalone VR is within the company's future plans. 

While Valve has historically seen little success in the hardware market, the positive reception of the Valve Index, and the ever increasing interest surrounding the Steam Deck does seem to suggest that the company is dipping its toes back into the hardware waters after failures such as the Steam Machine and Steam Controller. Hopefully it proves to be a fierce competitor to the Oculus Quest 2, which currently has a stranglehold on the standalone VR market.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of standalone VR? Is it the future of VR? Would you buy a standalone VR headset from Valve? Let us know down below.

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