It’s been a few years since Valve announced new hardware, but the company dropped some big news today, showcasing new devices that will arrive in early 2026. Valve gave us an early look at the Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame. The latter is going to be the most interesting project out of the three, and will introduce a new way for users to interact with SteamOS.
The headset will allow you to play VR and non-VR games through streaming, and games can even be installed directly onto the headset. Now, why is this release important? Well, The Verge managed to get the scoop on how Valve will approach Android developers in order to get games onto the Steam platform.
Valve is looking to do big things
In the article, Valve shares that it wants to bring Android games to Steam. It wants to make the process as seamless as possible, which is why Valve will be providing developer kits to Android game developers. Valve was asked about Android apps, and it wasn’t quite sure how that would work, and said that while it was possible, it was more focused on games.
This is important because Android XR recently launched, and there is no doubt that developers are working hard to create some very alluring titles for the platform. If Valve can manage to get these same products on its platform, it might have a better chance at getting its product out the door.
AR, XR, and VR headsets haven’t exactly had the best opportunities in the past. We’ve seen plenty of companies try to make it work with less than stellar results. The hardware is more affordable than ever in 2025, but the compelling software is still missing. And since Valve is making a new push, you can guarantee that it doesn’t want to miss.
That means there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be seeing some of your favorite Android games pop up on Steam in the near future. Valve shares that the performance should be great, since the games will be running natively. This is quite different from how current Windows PC games run on SteamOS, which utilizes a compatibility layer called Proton.
Proton is one of the main reasons why the Steam Deck has been so successful to this point. Valve took a huge chance with the Steam Deck, entering a market that was untested. While the lower price point of the hardware did help, it was the ease of use that really won consumers over. You could just link your Steam account to the device, download any game from your library, and play it on your Steam Deck without any hiccups.
Naturally, there’s still a lot of time left until we see this hardware hit store shelves. Which means there’s more time to get developers on board for future projects. If the past is any indication, you’ll only be able to buy the Steam Frame through Valve. It will be interesting to see how this piece of hardware is priced.
Hopefully, they will use the same strategy as the Steam Deck to get it into more hands. If this all works out, there’s a pretty good chance that Valve might actually crack the code when it comes to taking headsets mainstream.
