The Valve Index is a virtual reality headset that is no longer sold. It was made by Valve and introduced on April 30, 2019. The headset was released on June 28, 2019. It is the second version of a VR headset and the first one fully made by Valve. The headset came with the game Half-Life: Alyx. In November 2025, Valve announced a new headset called Steam Frame, which is planned to be released in early 2026.
Development
The Valve Index is Valve's first virtual reality headset made by the company itself. It was created to be the main equipment for Valve's upcoming virtual reality games, beginning with the release of Half-Life: Alyx. Work on a headset made entirely by Valve started around 2015, as reported in interviews with employees, before the launch of their Vive headset in partnership with HTC. In February 2021, Valve applied for patents for a new VR headset, which included details about improvements compared to the older version.
Release
In 2019, the Valve Index sold about 149,000 units. Of these, 103,000 were sold in the last quarter of 2019 after Valve announced that its main VR game, Half-Life: Alyx, would be free for owners of the Valve Index. The high demand caused the device to sell out in all 31 countries except Japan by January 2020. Valve had planned to supply enough units for most customers who ordered the device before the March 2020 release of Half-Life: Alyx. However, the COVID-19 pandemic slowed production, resulting in fewer units being available on the release date. As of January 2025, 13.2% of VR devices connected to Steam are Valve Index units.
Technical specifications
The headset has two 1440 x 1600 LCD screens. Each screen uses full RGB colors for every pixel and has a fast backlight that does not flicker (0.330 ms at 144 Hz). The headset includes two special lenses and provides a total resolution of 2880 x 1600. The screens support refresh rates of 80, 90, 120, or 144 Hz. The estimated field of view is 108 degrees. The screens and lenses can be moved side to side to adjust the user’s eye distance (inter-pupillary distance or IPD) using a slider beneath the displays. The IPD adjustment range is between 58 and 70 millimeters.
The headset and controllers use Lighthouse tracking systems. They also work with all previous HTC Vive base stations using SteamVR.
The Valve Index uses Valve’s Lighthouse 2.0 tracking system, which requires external base stations to create a 3D tracking environment. These base stations are small, rectangular devices placed around the room. They emit invisible infrared light and laser patterns. The headset and controllers have sensors that detect these signals to determine their position and orientation.
Each base station has two spinning laser emitters that project laser patterns across the room. Unlike Lighthouse 1.0, which used an infrared Sync Blinker for synchronization, Lighthouse 2.0 uses a more advanced synchronization method built into the laser system. The sensors on the headset and controllers detect the laser beams to determine their exact positions relative to the base stations. Two base stations are typically used to cover the room and reduce obstructions, but more can be added to expand tracking range.
Although the Valve Index uses external base stations, its tracking system is considered inside-out because the sensors are attached to the tracked devices (the headset and controllers). These sensors process tracking data internally, which is different from traditional systems that use fixed cameras or sensors outside the devices.
In addition to the base stations, the Index’s headset and controllers have Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) that track movement and orientation quickly. The IMUs update movement data several hundred times per second but can drift over time. The Lighthouse system corrects this drift by using laser signals from the base stations to provide precise position information, combining this data with the IMU information to maintain accurate tracking during fast movements.
This combination of external base stations and internal sensors ensures the Valve Index provides accurate and responsive tracking.
The headset is designed to work with the Valve Index Controllers (formerly called Knuckles Controllers) but is also compatible with HTC Vive and HTC Vive Pro controllers. The Valve Index Controllers have a thumbstick, touchpad, two face buttons, a menu button, a trigger, and 87 sensors that track hand and finger movements, motion, and pressure to create a realistic hand representation in VR. The controllers also include an accelerometer for additional measurements. In 2018, a tech demo called Moondust showed early features of the Knuckles.
The Index includes "a pair of ultra near-field, full-range, off-ear (extra-aural) headphones" that use Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) drivers to produce clear, low-frequency sounds. The headset also has a built-in microphone.
Unlike the Steam Frame, the Index requires a connection to a PC.