Valve Ends Index Production and Puts the Remaining Stock at 20 Percent Off
Valve has ended production of the Valve Index and reduced every remaining item in the line by 20 percent. The announcement of October 13, 2026 covers the headset, the controllers and the base stations together, and ties what is left to supply rather than to a date. Existing owners keep Steam and SteamVR support.
In short:
- What Valve said: Valve Index is no longer being produced, with remaining headsets, controllers and accessories sold at new prices "while supplies last".
- What it costs: Nine items, each 20 percent below its listed price on Valve's Index store page. The VR Kit is $799.20 against $999.00 and the base station is $119.20 against $149.00, read in the United States store on October 14, 2026.
- What continues: Valve states the headset "is still supported on Steam and SteamVR" and routes owners to its Index support wizard.
- The part that reaches other companies: The base station is SteamVR's room tracking system rather than an Index accessory, and Bigscreen marks the Valve Index Base Station as required for Beyond 2, a headset still on sale.
- The second source: HTC sells the SteamVR Base Station 2.0 at $229.00 in its United States store.
What did Valve announce?
Production has stopped and the remaining inventory is being sold down. Valve posted the notice to its Steam Hardware news group on October 13, 2026 under the heading Valve Index Sunset, and the body runs to three sentences.
The first is the news: "Valve Index is no longer being produced. Remaining Index headsets, controllers, and accessories are still available at the new prices below while supplies last." The second is the commitment to existing owners: "If you already own an Index, nothing changes - it is still supported on Steam and SteamVR."
Two things follow from how that is worded. Valve calls these new prices rather than a sale, and it attaches them to stock rather than to an end date, so the figures below hold until the inventory is gone rather than until a published deadline. Valve's store listing gives the Index a release date of June 28, 2019, which makes this a seven year production run.
What does each Index product cost now?
Nine items, all reduced by exactly 20 percent. These are the United States prices read from Valve's own store on October 14, 2026, with the listed price shown struck through on each capsule.
| Item | Listed price | Price now |
|---|---|---|
| Valve Index VR Kit | $999.00 | $799.20 |
| Valve Index Headset + Controllers | $749.00 | $599.20 |
| Valve Index Headset | $499.00 | $399.20 |
| Valve Index Controllers | $279.00 | $223.20 |
| Valve Index Base Station | $149.00 | $119.20 |
| Valve Index Replacement Left Controller | $149.00 | $119.20 |
| Valve Index Replacement Right Controller | $149.00 | $119.20 |
| Valve Index Replacement Tether | $129.00 | $103.20 |
| Face Gasket for Valve Index Headset, 2 pack | $39.99 | $31.99 |
The uniform percentage is worth noting on its own. This is not a clearance of the slow-moving items with the popular ones held back. The full kit, the bare headset, the controllers, the base station and all four spare parts move by the same proportion, which is what a line being sold down looks like rather than a promotion.
Prices in other regions are set per store, and Valve publishes them on the same page. Our XR hardware price index records manufacturer figures with the date each was read, and every figure in this category moves.
What happens to an Index you already own?
Nothing, by Valve's own statement. The announcement says the headset "is still supported on Steam and SteamVR", and it points owners at Steam Support for hardware help. Valve publishes no end date for either, which puts the Index in a different position from the enterprise headsets this site has tracked into retirement.
That distinction is the one the XR Graveyard is built on. Microsoft's HoloLens and Magic Leap's first two headsets each carry a published date after which something stops. The Index so far carries a production end and a support commitment, which are different kinds of fact, and only the first of them has happened.
The practical reading for an owner is that spares are the thing with a deadline. The replacement tether, the two single controllers and the face gaskets are in the same sunset as the headset, so the window to buy a spare at any price is the window Valve describes as while supplies last.
Why the base station matters more than the headset
Because the base station is not an Index accessory. It is the SteamVR tracking system, mounted in the room and used by hardware from other companies, and it is inside the same sunset as the headset it was sold alongside.
Valve's own specification table on the Index page puts the base station's range at 7 meters, its field of view at 160 by 115 degrees and the maximum configuration at four units covering 10 by 10 meters. The headset is listed as compatible with both SteamVR 1.0 and 2.0 base stations, which is why rooms built for the original Vive still work.
The company that makes this concrete is Bigscreen. Its own accessory list for Beyond 2 is divided into required and optional, and the required column names two Valve products: the Valve Index Base Station, marked "At least one required", and the Valve Index Controllers. Beyond 2 is a current product. One of its two published requirements has just gone out of production.
The same tracking system carries the trackers our full body tracking guide covers, where a room with base stations already mounted is the condition that makes the cheaper tracker the sensible buy. That guide's arithmetic turns on base stations being available, and the first-party supply of them is now finite.
Where SteamVR base stations come from now
From HTC, and from whatever Valve has left. HTC lists the SteamVR Base Station 2.0 at $229.00 in its United States store with a buy option, describing it as wide-area tracking for Vive Pro series and Cosmos Elite headsets and controllers.
That makes Valve's remaining stock the cheaper of the two by a wide margin while it lasts. At $119.20 against $229.00, a buyer filling a two-station room saves roughly $220 by taking Valve's inventory rather than HTC's, which is a reason for anyone planning a lighthouse setup to decide now rather than later.
HTC's page lists compatibility for its own headsets rather than for third-party hardware, so a buyer pairing it with a non-HTC headset should confirm with that headset's maker first. What both products share is the SteamVR tracking standard, which is the thing Beyond 2 and the tracker ecosystem are built against.
How this sits against Steam Frame
Steam Frame replaces the Index without replacing the base stations, because it does not use them. Valve's current headset tracks itself from four outward-facing cameras, which our headset comparison records alongside its 2160 by 2160 per eye panels and its $1,059 and $1,299 prices.
So the two Valve headsets answer different questions. The Index was a tethered PC headset whose tracking lived in the room and whose controllers tracked individual fingers. Steam Frame is a standalone headset that streams from a PC and carries its tracking on board. A room already fitted with base stations gains nothing from Steam Frame, and a Steam Frame buyer needs nothing mounted on the walls.
The sequence is visible in Valve's own publishing this autumn. Steam Frame shipped on September 14, Valve published the CAD files and the expansion port pinout on October 9, and the Index sunset followed four days later.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Is the Valve Index discontinued?
Yes. Valve stated on October 13, 2026 that the Valve Index is no longer being produced, and that remaining headsets, controllers and accessories are available at reduced prices while supplies last.
2. How much does the Valve Index cost now?
In the United States store on October 14, 2026, the Valve Index VR Kit is $799.20 against a listed $999.00, the headset alone is $399.20 against $499.00 and a single base station is $119.20 against $149.00. All nine items in the line are 20 percent below their listed price.
3. Will the Valve Index keep working?
Valve states that nothing changes for existing owners and that the headset is still supported on Steam and SteamVR, with hardware help through the Steam Support Index wizard. Valve publishes no end date for that support.
4. Where can I still buy SteamVR base stations?
From Valve while the remaining Index stock lasts, at $119.20, and from HTC, which lists the SteamVR Base Station 2.0 at $229.00 in its United States store. Check compatibility with your own headset's maker before buying either.
5. Does Steam Frame need base stations?
No. Steam Frame tracks itself from its own outward-facing cameras, so nothing is mounted in the room. Base stations remain necessary only for headsets and trackers built around SteamVR room tracking, such as Bigscreen Beyond 2.
