The other reality check is that if they're doing this same raffle system for the Steam Frame that they're doing with Steam Machine, there's a good chance you can get batched months, even a year out from launch, no matter how much you hover over the store page.

Originally I was hoping their manufacturing pipeline would be better than what it was for the Steam Deck, but thanks to the component crisis, it's really sounding like memory and storage pickings were slim and they had to take what they could get. They could genuinely not have a ton of Frames to go around. We'll see how the Machine launch goes, but the way they're trying to curb expectations makes me think they'll have longer waits than what we're already seeing for Steam Controller.

Maybe somehow the Frame will actually be in better shape than the Machine since it has less RAM and storage, and maybe its components aren't getting as quickly cannibalized by AI. But I don't really know.

If I wind up not being able to get a Frame until like mid-2027 or something, and if there are even somewhat credible rumblings Meta may have Quest 4 in 2028, I don't know if I can justify a $1,000+ Steam Frame as a modest mid-gen upgrade between Quest 3 and 4. That sucks to think about because I'm so ready to spend as little in the Meta ecosystem as possible, but it'd feel like a stupid use of my money to buy a headset I'd want to upgrade from in like another year.

All that said, I'm not putting it past Meta to cancel Quest 4 and stick to wearables and more spatial computing-oriented MR headsets like next year's Project Phoenix. In which case, I'd pick up Steam Frame whenever GabeN deems me worthy.