Valve Ends Index VR Production, Discounts Remaining Stock 20 Percent

Valve Index VR headsets are no longer being produced, Valve confirmed on Tuesday, with remaining inventory now sitting at a 20 percent discount until supplies run out.

The Steam Hardware page now reads, “Valve Index is no longer being produced. Remaining Index headsets, controllers, and accessories are still available at the new prices below while supplies last,” per a Steam News post first flagged by PC Gamer. The standalone Index headset launched in April 2019 for $499 and now sells for $399.20. Left controller replacements and replacement tethers are also discounted, at $119.20 and $103.20 respectively. There are no right controller replacements or base stations in the clearance stock.

The full Index + controllers + base station bundle, which used to cost $999, has been pulled from the store entirely. Valve designer Lawrence Yang first hinted that Index manufacturing was ending late last year, but this is the first official word from the company itself.

The move is the clearest sign yet that Valve has moved on to its next-generation VR hardware, the Steam Frame, which launched earlier this year. Our Steam Frame CAD files story covered how Valve is also releasing the headset’s design files for free to encourage community-made accessories. Together, the Steam Frame as the new tethered-to-wireless successor and the Index stock clearance close out the chapter that helped define PC VR for the better part of a decade.

If you already own an Index, nothing changes: the headset is still supported on Steam and SteamVR, and Steam Support remains the contact point for hardware issues. Existing Index users will keep getting SteamVR updates and game compatibility.

Valve is the Bellevue, Washington studio and platform operator behind Steam, the Steam Deck line, the Steam Controller, and the Index. The Index launched in April 2019, when the original Meta Quest was just starting to popularize cord-free VR. PC Gamer’s launch review called it the best VR headset available, with the distinctive “knuckle” controllers that set it apart from earlier PC VR.

What to do if you want one

Index fans still in the market should act quickly. Valve has not said how many units remain, and the “while supplies last” wording suggests clearance is a one-time event, not an extended sale. After the stock runs out, new Index headsets will only be available on the secondary market.

What comes next

The Steam Frame is the practical successor for anyone buying a PC-tethered or wireless PC VR headset today. For existing Index owners, the headset’s continued SteamVR support means there’s no immediate pressure to upgrade, but the lack of controller or base station replacements in the clearance stock will become a long-term spare-parts problem.

For more on the Steam Frame itself, our Steam Frame CAD files story covers how Valve is opening the headset’s design for community modders. For the broader VR hardware landscape, the release calendar tracks upcoming launches.

Our read: the Index sunset closes a six-year run for what was, for most of its life, the most-respected PC VR headset on the market. The PC Gamer review called it the best VR headset available at launch in 2019, and “while supplies last” clearance pricing puts the standalone unit within 20 percent of its original MSRP five years later, which is unusually gentle for a 2019-era peripheral. The interesting question is what happens to the third-party accessory ecosystem: Index face plates, knuckle-controller grips, prescription lens adapters, and after-market base stations all come from small manufacturers, and a Valve-driven end-of-life is the signal for them to wind down too. If you have been putting off a PC VR purchase, this is the cleanest “last batch” window the market is likely to see before everything shifts to the Steam Frame.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report