It was only a few weeks ago that we saw our first SteamVR 2.0 base station in the wild, shown off at this year’s CES working with Vive Pro, HTC’s upcoming high-resolution VR headset. Now, it appears some developers are already receiving the 2.0 base stations from Valve.

GameFace Labs, the makers of a hybrid standalone VR headset that uses SteamVR positional tracking, tweeted out a picture of the 2.0 base stations (also called ‘Lighthouse’) earlier today. The 2.0 base stations are dubbed ‘Next Generation SteamVR Base Stations’ according to the inside of the box.

The outside of the box designates the base stations as “Prototype – Not For Sale”. It appears GameFace Labs has a haul of 4 boxes, each with presumably two base stations inside.

There’s still no telling when the general public will be able to purchase the 2.0 base stations, which are not backwards compatible with 1.0 sensors – meaning the new 2.0 base stations won’t be compatible with existing HTC Vives or Vive Trackers since they use a different method for sync timing. Newer headsets and accessories using 2.0 sensors, such as HTC Vive Pro the newly revealed Vive Tracker, however will be able to take full advantage of the 2.0 base stations.

Valve previously said they expect 2.0 base stations to ship to licensees in early 2018, but noted that supply will likely be limited initially. Valve further said OEMs will be able to order the 2.0 base stations in bulk (at $60/unit + shipping) from Valve and repackage them as part of their products. HTC currently sells replacement 1.0 base stations for $135/unit + shipping, which could give us some indication of the cost savings from the new base stations.

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Though the bulk units sold to OEMs won’t include any mounting solution, Valve’s Joe Ludwig writes that Valve is “creating a custom wall/ceiling mounting solution,” which they’ll talk more about in 2018. It still isn’t clear if Valve plans to sell 2.0 base stations directly to consumers, or simply though OEMs.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.