Industry Expert Predicts 2026 Launch for New Valve XR Headset

Oh man, where to start with this? So, Valve’s cooking up some new XR headset, right? Codename ‘Deckard.’ Seriously, sounds like something out of Blade Runner. Anyway, this guy Stan Larroque, who’s big in the XR world ’cause of his company Lynx, got a sneak peek. He hopped on X, formerly known as Twitter, and yelled out, “This thing looks AMAZING!” Who does that? Stan, apparently.

Now, Stan’s all chill about NDAs – like, he doesn’t have one, thank goodness. Actually, he’s pretty zen about the whole competition thing. He says Lynx’s stuff and this Deckard thingy won’t really butt heads since they’re aimed at totally different folks (and price tags, yikes). Still, Stan kept teasing about shared suppliers. Kind of feels like he’s doing a waltz around the subject. It’s like, “Are you saying there’s a leak or what, Stan?”

And okay, I have zero clue why, but they say it’s hitting the shelves in 2026, yet some intel from a while back said end of 2025. Who’s right? Anyone’s guess. Apparently, a leak came from Gabe Follower or some such name, claiming a $1,200 price tag. That’s like a decent laptop! But, no shocker here—Valve isn’t breaking their poker face.

Now, there’s this wild ride of leaks—someone stumbled on prototype designs ages ago, and 3D models popped up in SteamVR. Like, Valve can’t keep a secret, but it’s hilarious watching them try. Oh, and these models show off this VR controller, ‘Roy.’ Roy. Sounds like it should be the friendly neighbor, not a VR gadget. Anyway—wait, forgot—a tech analyst named Brad Lynch said Valve’s revving up production. It’s all hush-hush but not really.

Here’s a kicker: By the time we’re able to buy one, Meta might have a couple of headsets out, and Samsung’s doing their thing too—something about Google’s Android XR? Sounds fancy. Doesn’t help our wallets, though.

Ending this ramble, all eyes on Valve ’cause sometimes things just drop outta nowhere. Keep scrolling Steam; who knows when Deckard’s gonna surprise us with a “BUY NOW” button. Exciting, right? Sort of.