Industry Expert Predicts 2026 Launch for New Valve XR Headset

Oh boy, here we go—diving headfirst into the wonderfully chaotic world of Valve’s latest mystery gadget. I stumbled across this bit about a new XR headset, “Deckard.” Seriously, that name—couldn’t they say “Blade Runner” any louder? Anyway, some bigwig, Stan Larroque, you know, from Lynx (if that rings a bell), spills the beans on this thing. And he’s like, “Whoa, it’s mind-blowingly cool.” Could be hitting the shelves next year. Or not. Who even knows?

So Stan’s got no legal muzzle on, surprise surprise, and he’s chatting with folks from Road to VR. He’s convinced Valve’s new tech isn’t going to clash with Lynx’s next contraption—like they’re aiming for totally different crowds. Still, it sounds awfully like they’re swapping parts supplier gossip, which might ruffle some feathers. Can you imagine the spill-the-beans sessions at their Christmas parties? “My chip’s faster than yours.” I’d pay to see it.

Stan posted somewhere (don’t ask me where, X or something?) that if Lynx got leaked like this, he’d be livid. And I’m just over here, sipping my coffee like, “Dude, aren’t you kinda doing the same thing?” But hey, excitement is contagious—I get it.

There’s also this geeky patent picture from way back in 2022. Looks all official and whatnot. Dive into that if that’s your jam. Meanwhile, rumor mills are grinding out tales about this Deckard thing dropping in 2025-ish, price tag dangling at $1,200. Yikes, right? That’s a lot of tacos.

Okay, so some stealthy data miners scrounged around the depths of SteamVR and found bits of this “Roy” motion controller. (I mean, who names this stuff?) Looks like a space-age TV remote if you ask me. Anyway, last month some tech dude, Brad Lynch, was like, “Valves’s importing factory doodads for making headset bits in the US.” Geek alert, am I right?

Honestly, all this just leaves me scratching my head. Valve’s on their own timeline, doing their stealth drop thing—which might mean a surprise pop-up sale on Steam. You blink, you miss it. Classic Valve.

Now, for a little déjà vu, Meta’s rumored to launch headsets, dubbed ‘Pismo Something-or-Other,’ around 2026. In the meantime, Apple’s mum as usual about their next gizmo, surprise there. And Samsung’s cooking up Project Moohan, featuring Google’s Android XR—sounds fancy, no?

So, keep your eyes peeled. You never know when Deckard might casually waltz onto the scene. Or not. Life’s full of surprises, right?