Valve is clearing out its discontinued Index VR headsets if you want a cheap piece of history

With the recently launched Steam Frame superseding the Index VR headset, Valve has heavily discounted remaining stock of the latter. The Index VR headset launched in 2019 for $499, but now you can get one for $399.20.

Keep in mind that the Index VR headset doesn't come with controllers or a base station. A package bundling those used to cost $999, but that option is no longer available and thus, there's no associated discount.

Left controller replacements and replacement tethers are going for $119.20 and $103.20 respectively. No, there aren't any right controller replacements listed. It seems that if you want controllers for your Index VR, you'll probably need to buy them elsewhere. The same goes for base stations.

"Valve Index is no longer being produced," reads a Steam news item published earlier today. "Remaining Index headsets, controllers, and accessories are still available at the new prices below while supplies last."

That "while supplies last" is crucial: obviously Valve won't be making any more, and they've given no sense of how many they have lying around. If you really want one, perhaps as a collectible, I'd probably act fast.

Valve designer Lawrence Yang indicated that Index VR was no longer being manufactured last year, but this is the first official word from Valve on the matter.

The Index was a tidy piece of kit when it launched in April 2019. Our review called it the best VR headset available, while falling short of a 2.0 approach to VR. Nowadays the thought of being tethered to a PC while using VR is a bit dated, but back then it was still the norm despite the original Meta Quest—then known as Oculus Quest—popularising cord-free VR a few months later.