“I wish more headsets were like this” Godot XR lead dev reveals favorite thing about the Steam Frame so far

The lead developer of Godot XR, Bastiaan Olij, has been hands-on with Valve’s upcoming Steam Frame VR headset. He’s one of the people to get a devkit ahead of release, and from a developer’s perspective, he is most impressed by the lightweight build. In particular, the ability to simply rest it on your head, akin to lifting a pair of glasses when they’re not in use.

Unlike the Index before it, the Steam Frame VR headset features a wireless-focused design, so you can connect to your gaming PC via a 6GHz wireless adapter, delivering stable audio and video transmission. The headset also works as a standalone device, much like the Meta Quest series, thanks to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip running SteamOS, Valve’s Linux-based operating system.

Steam Frame hands-on with a developer – first impressions

We first heard of Valve shipping out devkits at the tail end of 2025, so it’s nice to see some first-hand thoughts so far ahead of the official launch, whenever that may be. Outside of a generic ‘early 2026’ launch window, we still don’t know when Valve will be releasing the Steam Frame.

Back to Bastiaan Olij, the lead developer working on the XR (eXtended Reality) component of Godot, a free and open-source game engine responsible for hit indie titles including Brotato and Dome Keeper. Olij’s favorite part of the headset so far is simple: you can easily and stably rest it on your head while you’re switching back and forth between using your monitor and testing in VR. While this may be a non-issue for the average VR gamer, we can see why it’s a valuable feature for developers.

Put it on, put it off. That is probably one of my favorite things and also it just sits on my head so I can work on my computer when i’m not in the headset, which is something I’m really happy about […] By far, my favorite thing of this headset; I wish more headsets were like this, just the development experience is amazing.

Bastiaan Olij, Godot XR lead developer

One stream viewer comments that developing (coding) with a VR headset resting on your forehead is “a stress,” to which Olij replies by shaking his head and demonstrating just how stable the Steam Frame while remaining comfortable, adding, “Can I make my point without saying it out loud?”. The Frame weighs just 440 grams, including the headstrap – some 75 grams lighter than the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S.

The Dutch-born developer also comments on the usability of the Steam Frame for those wearing prescription glasses. “With my glasses, it’s fine,” says Olij, though this will understandably vary from person to person. He does admit that he will “eventually get lenses for it,” regardless.

Away from the development side of things, we expect the Steam Frame to be popular for gaming, especially now that it’s fully capable as a standalone VR headset. Developers at Valve have previously claimed Half-Life: Alyx should be playable without external hardware (though no promises yet).

Written by

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.

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