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Valve is reportedly gearing up to launch its next generation VR headset, with fresh supply chain leaks pointing toward an aggressive production target of 400,000 to 600,000 units. The company appears to be aiming squarely for the holiday 2025 window, marking its biggest VR hardware push since the debut of the Valve Index.
The leak originates from the “XR Research Institute,” a Chinese research group known for previous accurate hardware leaks. It claims that Valve’s manufacturing partners in Shandong, China, have begun scaling production, targeting a Q4 2025 launch. A now deleted WeChat post by user BlackHairSheriff008 reinforced this timeline, suggesting Valve wants to capture peak consumer spending during the festive season.
The headset, rumored under codenames “Deckard” and “Steam Frame”, is said to be a hybrid device capable of standalone operation while also wirelessly streaming PC VR content. Supporting evidence for this surfaced in recent SteamVR betas, where developers found references to “DV1” and “DV2” models, likely indicating pre release versions.
Deckard DV1 and DV2 models appeared in tonight’s SteamVR beta
For Valve hardware: DV units are the final stages before the model (PV) that consumers will buy pic.twitter.com/xO4PJop1Wq
— SadlyItsDadley (@SadlyItsBradley) October 9, 2025
This production scale is striking for Valve, a company not typically associated with mass hardware rollouts. Analysts say the 500,000 unit target would place Valve in direct competition with Meta Quest 3 and the Apple Vision Pro. If achieved, it could position the company as a serious player in consumer VR hardware, not just a software platform holder.
A standalone streaming hybrid headset could attract both gamers and enterprise buyers, blurring the line between PC VR and mobile VR experiences.
With its strong content ecosystem through SteamVR, Valve could disrupt the VR market balance currently led by Meta and Apple.
