When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. The company that brought virtual reality to the mainstream barely mentioned gaming when it showed off its new flagship headset. That's bad news for anyone who likes VR. I have a medium-intensity interest in virtual reality gaming. I'm excited to try Valve's new Steam Frame, and an older VR headset design helped me lose a ton of weight .

Versus Say More Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Mashable Selects Creator Playbook In My Bag Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off Mashable Voices All Series Valve's VR headset has arrived. But, should you get it? Matt Binder joined Mashable's tech vertical in 2018, where he covers social media, tech policy, cybersecurity, online scams, cryptocurrency, AI, creator news, weird tech, and other related tech beats. The Steam Frame VR headset is here. What do the reviewers think?

PCWorld examines whether VR gaming is declining, highlighting challenges from Meta's failed Metaverse push and lack of compelling new content. Rising AI-driven hardware costs are making Valve's upcoming Steam Frame headset potentially unaffordable, while Apple's Vision Pro lacks gaming presence. Only Valve remains committed to VR gaming among major companies, making the technology's future uncertain despite continued development efforts. Meta is looking a lot less meta lately, reportedly pivoting from the virtual reality Quest brand and the ghost of Oculus to double down on pervert glasses. After a decade of work, Sony's VR ambitions over on the PlayStation seem to have made little progress. And I've barely heard a mention of Samsung's Galaxy XR headset--allegedly the flagship launch device for Android XR--since it arrived six months ago. While the idea that Apple is abandoning its Vision Pro headset might be overblown--the company is still actively hiring for the division--Michael Simon over at Macworld tells me the platform has basically zero gaming presence for the hardware. Hope for renewed interest in VR gaming with a big injection of Cupertino branding power has evaporated. Is virtual reality gaming, to borrow a term from, cooked?

After the smash hit that is the Steam Deck, all eyes are on Valve for its next hardware move. A console to take on Sony and Nintendo? A new trademark filing for the "Steam Frame" has gamers and press alike turning the speculation up to 11. And yeah, I couldn't resist doing some of my own. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has a public filing for the Steam Frame name, assigned to Valve Corporation and its corporate office in Bellevue, Washington, and began on September 2nd.