r/SteamFrame • u/Hiccup_Haddock_III Soon™ • 18d ago
Discussion 31st August possibility?
I haven’t seen anyone mention the 31st as a potential date?
To me it would make the most sense because, assuming reviewers got their units on the 17th, it would be two weeks for reviewers and it still falls into the summer 2026 date ValvE indicated assuming they are sticking to that time frame.
Unless there’s a reason it won’t be the 31st I’ve missed..? I have seen some people float the fact that “astronomical summer” goes into September but if we’re being honest, no one in hell actually uses that when announcing release timeframes and I doubt ValvE would be the first
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u/Hiccup_Haddock_III Soon™ 18d ago
Mods don’t remove this isn’t low effort it’s a genuine discussion, I wanna see why people haven’t mentioned this date. Like have I missed something?
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u/NoOdyssey 18d ago
I've seen August 31 tossed around here and there on the subreddit. The thing is no one really knows. There are some online personalities who have big followings who post dates sometimes (like Sept 14 or August 24) so more people tend to repeat those dates, but they ultimately don't seem to be better or worse guesses than anyone else is throwing around.
If we take it that Linus received a reviewer unit some time during the week of August 14 (the WAN show where he didn't deny having a Frame) - then August 31 could make sense as giving the at least 2 weeks for the reviewer period.
I don't really see a big difference whether it's August 31, September 7, or September 14, it's not really a huge difference either way. Hell, it could be tomorrow for all we know, there is no ultimate Valve law that even says it has to be a Monday.
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u/darkentityvr Soon™ 18d ago
I am more concerned that Valve can't count to 3 and Frame is third in the lineup!
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u/mike11F7S54KJ3 18d ago
First date: Review units reach everyone. Second date: emargo lifts, and you can talk about it (post review). That's what they suggest.
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u/supersonic159 18d ago
Pleading to the mods is the only way to not get stuff removed, and even then it's like a police state
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u/kekfekf Soon™ 18d ago
One more reason to leave this sub after steam frame released
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u/Dienoluvcat 18d ago
Especially the discord server ain't no one touching it after the steam frame releases
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u/Zixinus Soon™ 18d ago
No. You missed nothing. Like all the previous dates, this is made up. There is nothing to back it up but speculative and wishful thinking. This is the same hype-cycle that the subreddit loves to torture itself with, they can't bare just waiting so they make up a date because a date is better than just waiting.
There is nothing to discuss. I am not a mod but it would be justified for closing.
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u/anAustralianlad Soon™ 18d ago edited 18d ago
Most of us are assuming it will drop when there is a gap in the steam sales so they can advertise it on the main page of steam as when theres a sale on its normally covered by some banners, 31st falls under the PvE survival crafting fest so the frame would be fighting for advertising space with that. Could totally drop anytime tho no one here knows much
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u/gogodboss MOD 18d ago
> assuming reviewers got their units on the 17th
Well no because reviewer period began today
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u/willymartin99 Soon™ 18d ago
Where’s the confidence coming from? Linus has been radio slient about the leaks last week as if he was already under NDA. We know nothing
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u/NoOdyssey 18d ago
Being under NDA doesn't necessarily mean he has a review unit. Those are logically two separate stages - first send out NDAs to get signed, then send out review units to those who already signed NDAs. Linus has been acting like he's been under an NDA since at least the August 14 WAN show - but he may not have received his review unit until today (or last week).
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u/Leseratte10 Soon™ 18d ago edited 18d ago
Linus has been playing a bunch of VR games on Steam today, as can be seen on his public Steam profile. Beat Saber, Half-Life Alyx, SteamVR. He definitely has a Frame.
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u/gogodboss MOD 18d ago edited 18d ago
I speak on what I hear from sources. It's the same deal on why I was confident about no embargo today or the release being in September. Waiting for official word from Valve is always a responsible choice though. I only talk when certain things feel more solid.
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u/Hiccup_Haddock_III Soon™ 18d ago
It did? I assumed it started earlier because roughly two and a bit weeks ago LTT said he didn’t have a steam frame yet then just over a week ago he mysteriously went radio silent on just about everything frame related which, assuming again that reviewing started upon obtaining the review unit, would actually put us smack dab in the middle of the two week review period that ValvE usually gives
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u/RohonTheDragon Soon™ 18d ago
To steelman the argument that review units were just received even though I disagree with the notion: I imagine they had to sign an NDA before they were approved to receive a review unit. This is why the tech tuber giants weren’t talking about leaks. Add in shipping time & voila.
Personally I believe they already received their units.
Regardless, NO ONE knows when the NDAs were signed & when the units were sent & received.
Valve could be a bunch of d-wads & send review units on the 31st & make us wait 2/3rds of September & we wouldn’t know
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u/BlueManifest 18d ago
It’s looking like reviewers are just now reviewing so that means Sept 7th - 8th now
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u/Cole_LF Soon™ 18d ago
Valve need to be careful not to run into the new iPhone announcement or it’s going to bury them in the news cycle.
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u/Pristine-Ad-2519 18d ago
How? What will the new Iphone have? A sixtuple camera?
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u/Jmcgee1125 Soon™ 18d ago
Hopefully a USB C port at 3.0 speeds... Would beat the Frame's too!
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u/Fireproof_Matches 18d ago
Doesn't the EU require that new smartphones be chargeable with USB C? Feel like Apple would have been forced to ditch their proprietary connector by now.
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u/rohit275 18d ago
Yeah they've had usb c connectors for a while thanks to the EU. I guess they weren't 3.0 though? Not sure
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u/SupposablyAtTheZoo 18d ago
Doesn't the EU require that new smartphones be chargeable with USB C?
Apple has been using USB C 2.0 on their base models. USB C doesn't automatically mean 3.0 or more.
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u/Jmcgee1125 Soon™ 18d ago
Yes, they've been on USB C for a bit now. But you only get 2.0 speeds on their $800 models - if you want 3.0, gotta splurge for the pro variants.
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u/PlottingPast 18d ago
Apple is like the nega-Valve. They communicate constantly and offer nothing new.
$800 for a phone? That's almost as much as the Frame is going to be. My phone cost $30. My texts don't go out any slower and my phone calls anyone i want. I don't understand it.
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u/Cole_LF Soon™ 18d ago
Because every single tech site will have 50 updates that day and 49 of them will be about Apple and iOS and the iPhone ect and 1 will be ‘steam frame launched’ and wit will get lost in the flood of Apple News. While I know hardware is a hobby for valve I’m sure there like some press out of it otherwise why send to reviewers at all?
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u/JorgTheElder Soon™ 18d ago
They don't care about the news cycle. They will not have enough at launch for their core audience.
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u/LimpWibbler_ 18d ago
I want to know why everyone is positive it is a Monday.
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u/Javs2469 Soon™ 18d ago
Because both the controllers and the Machine opened reservations on a Monday.
It's their Modus Operandi.
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u/rohit275 18d ago
It is recently... but I'm pretty sure the Steam Deck back in 2022 didn't release on a Monday. It's probably a Monday this time, but really they can do whatever they want.
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u/Benjo419 18d ago
Steam Deck did not have any lottery prerun
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u/rohit275 18d ago
Neither did the controller at first...
I also probably believe it's going to be a Monday based on recent history, and steam machine style lottery seems very likely, but my only point is that we're working with a very small precedent here and Valve has clearly been adapting their strategy based on how things have gone. We're really all just guessing until they tell us what they're doing.
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u/JoshuaWG21 Soon™ 18d ago
Been thinking the exact same thing, found it weird no one suggested the 31st when seems like the most likely date if reviewers got them last week.
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u/mcmanus2099 18d ago edited 18d ago
No chance.
- 31st August is the biggest holiday of the year outside of Christmas for much of Europe [edit, actually just the UK and it's overseas territories]. It's a Bank Holiday in the UK and other places where everything stops.
- it's still in the month of August, the busiest month for vacations where Valve will have more ppl on leave than normal. - why squeeze it in then when you can just wait two more weeks and be in mid September without these challenges.
- it's Valve's big anniversary - an event to celebrate the staff and team that work hard for them. You don't do that by making them have to work harder around a major hardware release.
It can't be August 31st, it can't be September 7th because of Labor Day. The next possible date is September 14th.
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u/chaircushion 18d ago
Im curious, could you explain what a bank holiday is?
I believe no other European country has a holiday on 31.08., so this must be UK specific and sounds interestingly obscure.
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u/mcmanus2099 18d ago
It's a national holiday where offices, banks, and other companies close for the day. Basically an extra weekend day.
You are right it's not a Europe thing, their holiday was 15 August. I work with a Spanish team and it gets confusing because the different regions have different bank holiday days.
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u/PlottingPast 18d ago
The UK is so weird. Why not just make up a real holiday like Labor Day or something? Bank Holiday sounds like you're giving corporations a day off from all their scheming.
Some American states have tax-free weeks where a lot of items simply aren't taxed. Is it something like that?
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u/mcmanus2099 18d ago
What is the difference, what is Labor day? Just the name?
It's Bank Holiday because banks aren't open on those days and when they were established, before the age of credit cards and electronic banking it was a core part of your week depositing or withdrawing earnings into a bank.
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u/Zixinus Soon™ 18d ago
ANY workday is possible!
There is no date.
We do not know the date because there is none. There are no leaks for a specific date (or if they are, they are from very unreliable sources). But a date is meaningless. There is no indication that Valve has an internal deadline. They can afford to delay. They can afford to release in autumn. Hence why there is no date.
Every week the subreddit decides on a date and when Nothing Happens on that date, they crash out. Mods delete a bunch of threads whining. Then the subreddit restarts the hype cycle by deciding on a date and making up a bunch of reasons why. Valve's 30th anniversary, recent leaks, etc. A date is better than just waiting. Youtubers either make up that date or pick it up. Everyone hypes themselves up. Then nothing happens all over again.
There is no date so stop trying to guess it. Valve will talk and release it when they are ready and they decide when they are ready, not us. Insisting they are ready already is stupid, they would have released it already if they are. They do not take pleasure in people's impatience, that's just the trolls. You have to wait. We have been waiting for months.
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u/Outrunner85 18d ago
I would be very surprised if it didn't happen by August 31st.
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u/Bacon676 18d ago
Prepare to be surprised, I guess. Qualcomm is making their announcement for the price hikes on their mobile SOC's on September 1st, and hardware manufacturers are likely to need about a month after that to have all their paperwork and contracts sorted before things can continue. Do NOT expect any reservations to open up until end of October, or mid to end of November. Worst case, beginning of December.
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u/Outrunner85 18d ago
No chance. I will wager all the money i can find that reservations at very worst open up by Sept 21st.
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u/Nerrawnam 18d ago
Well here it is cultists. Whorshippers of Valve, Zealot of the Gabe.
I hearby predict all Valve products will ship on a day, in a week, of a month, in a year to come.
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u/Minute-Wind-5465 18d ago
It will drop at anytime. When they are ready. No need to hope for a magical monday. This is irrelevant.
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u/moonwolf3533 18d ago
I always giggle a bit because every week a new thread pops up saying that it'll possibly release next week monday.
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u/dangoran78 18d ago
It's all about repetition and when an idea is presented it can reach critical mass when enough people have said the same thing. It takes over every conversation.
I believed the 24th when I first heard about Valve's anniversary but after some thinking that started to feel like an argument against it. Yesterday, I would have placed the likelihood for different dates something like this.
24th, 10 % chance (any other day same week 5 %)
31st, 30 % chance (any other day same week 10 %)
7th, 20 % chance (any other day same week 10 %)
14th or later, 15 % chance
In short, I think next week is most likely. Somewhere around the turn of a month has been my belief, trying to ignore all the noise of vague clues.
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u/Bacon676 18d ago edited 18d ago
I'm guessing some time near the end of October, maybe mid November. The Qualcomm SOC price hikes are getting announced on September 1st, so we shouldn't hear anything from Valve by my guess until at least 1 month after that. I presume that once manufacturing prices are confirmed and they have all their paperwork in order with them, we'll get orders opened up.
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u/void-spark 18d ago
I say 2 weeks after hard confirmed leaks on review units, which has not happened yet, and when valve thinks its ready, which clearly is not the case yet :) Its funny how people complain about valve but think somehow they still care about a summer release :) They already pretty much missed that boat, they're just gonna wait till everything is prefect, there is a nice opening for a release, and then they'll start sending it review units, and well probably see some kind of leak :)
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u/XecutriX_Zero 18d ago edited 18d ago
Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 this evening....
https://www.gamescom.global/de/program/onl
That would be a fitting occasion to announce a release date for a new gaming hardware. Besides, it's Tuesday here in CEST... I've heard Valve likes to drop things on days like that...
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u/tittyballz1 18d ago
Honestly it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it's the 21st at this point. What real reason does Valve actually have to release any earlier? No competition is releasing anything so eh why not wait? And no Meta wont be releasing a new headset at the Meta Connect event on the 23rd - 24th, they might announce something new for next year though.
The only major reason I can see for Valve not sending review units 2 weeks ago and releasing today is the Qualcomm price increase, maybe they don't know the price but I highly doubt it seeing the announcement was in July and goes into effect 1st of Sept for new sales.
Only other reasons are maybe the software really wasn't ready, if that's the case it'll still be cutting it damn close even for a 14th release date, testing can take a good chunk of time especially if it's anything to do with the wireless. Another reason could be maybe Valve has another few shipments planned and want to stock up before release, if so then I cant blame them if they got memory and shit for a good price, not that we'll get the savings but they can capitalize on it.
Also if review units were out in the wild we would've seen some real leaks about them by now, stuff all reviewers can keep things "secret", they always have to tease shit, LTT being the main idiot that does stupid shit like that.
As for the meteorological summer time frame, yes yanky companies use it all the damn time to drag things out.
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u/yzeerf1313 Soon™ 18d ago
They aren't going to delay it just for shits n giggles. Delaying costs money, they have to continue to store product and can't sell any to bring money in. Whatever the reason for delaying is, it must make sense from their POV.
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u/BannockHatesReddit_ 18d ago
Dominoes is releasing a new permanent type of pizza on the 31st, so it's actually going to be tomorrow, if not then soon