In the eleventh hour before Steam Frame's launch, its processor manuf…

Qualcomm, the manufacturer behind the processing chips inside devices sold by Samsung, Meta, Pico, Xiaomi, OnePlus and a slew of Windows Laptops and Android wearables, has reportedly announced to its partners that it can no longer absorb the rising cost of manufacturing computing parts in 2026. As such, it'll be issuing higher prices, and it could throw a spanner in the works of the imminent Steam Frame VR headset.

The Steam Frame is confirmed to use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which is built on ARM architecture. This is a step up from the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip used inside the Meta Quest 3 headsets and the Pico 4 Ultra, which could also come under fire as a result of these price hikes. capturengo.com

The rising costs are to be implemented as soon as September 1st, and are said to be going up by "double digits". We still don't have a confirmed release date for the Steam Frame, but Valve did say it'd arrive at some point this Summer. Judging by shipping manifests and intensifying signposting for the new headset on the Steam storefront, it could hit the shelves any week now.

Let us not forget that the Steam Frame's initial launch was meant to be "early 2026", but Valve has already cited rising manufacturing costs and the ongoing RAM shortages as a reason for its delay until now.

Those very same RAM issues are the reason Qualcomm's also feeling the squeeze. With industry-wide semiconductor and memory supply chain issues, many of Qualcomm's partners have steadily upped their prices, to the point where the Snapdragon maker now needs to do the same.

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This could impact end-costs for consumers, which it already has in some instances. Meta upped the prices of its Meta Quest 3 headsets in 2026, but there are so many mobile consumer electronics brands in Qualcomm's partnership that this could now trickle down to. It would be a real blow to Meta to have to raise the prices of the Quest 3 devices again, but it could have bigger, unreported consequences for the launch price of the Steam Frame.

If Valve had previously settled on an unannounced price tag for its new VR hardware, and its first batch is already manufactured and ready to ship from warehouses, it's going to become a PR game. Does Valve shoot with the cost it was already hypothetically decided on, or does it readjust now that one of its most expensive manufacturing components is about to steal more of its profits? Likely, it'll be the latter.

Let's be honest, it was already likely that the Steam Frame's price tag was going to spark outrage amongst gamers. The Steam Controller's $100 actually isn't that bad relative to some of the official PS5 and Xbox Series X pro controllers, but it was touted as too pricey by the public when it was properly revealed. The Steam Machine was met with a similar reaction too based on the equivalent cost of a desktop gaming PC. So, in Valve's eyes, it'll probably be a case of raising the cost of the Steam Frame a little further than it had planned - it's not as though we'll ever know.

That said, it's worth noting that at least for the first few batches of Steam Frames, Valve will have already cut a deal and secured pricing for the parts used, so it could well be that we see a price rise at some point in the future depending on how much Valve has prepped for the future.

It doesn't seem like the high costs of the Controller or Machine have impacted sales, as both are still in and out of stock due to demand.

Qualcomm announced its plans on Friday last week, as was reported by Bloomberg. According to the outlet, a letter was sent to customers explaining that Qualcomm had sought alternative components from new suppliers, but to no avail. The letter doesn't seem to be designed as a publicly facing message, but the company is due to report third-quarter financial results on July 29, so we may hear more official word soon.

Looking to upgrade your rig before Steam Frame arrives? Take a look at the best gaming PCs, the best graphics cards, and the best RAM for gaming.

A solo modder has taken matters into their own hands and put out a new Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth mod aiming to tackle the game's long-standing lighting issues – and the results are incredible, judging by side-by-side comparisons.

Modder David 'dddd5' Matos put out the Shader Injector mod for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth late last month (and recently updated it with a couple fixes). Since then, it's only gained more and more traction with fans.

"Framework allowing injection of modified shaders into the rendering API," the modder explains on NexusMods. "Comes with modified game shaders that improve lighting/shadow quality of the game significantly."

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The tech experts at Digital Foundry also gave the mod a look and concluded the game's wonky lighting is much better across the board. Some areas, such as the glowing Gold Saucer, are "totally transformed with much better correspondence between the scene and its reflection," according to the outlet. Several comparison shots show dramatic differences between the modded and unmodded versions of the game, too.

For context, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a mostly handsome game that's still plagued with a few odd lighting issues. Many light sources don't cast shadows at all, in-game foliage often lacks shadows, some shadows are really low quality, and lighting on character faces generally looks pretty weird in outside environments.

Default Shader and Shader Injector 2.1.0 Comparison from r/FFVIIRemake

"The overexposure in this game was f****** unbearable," one player writes over on Reddit.

"It's so impressive how much better the lighting looks with this mod in most cases," another says. "Even the performance version which only costs a few frames."

The next instalment in the series, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, comes out sometime next year. Here's hoping it launches in tip top shape.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director says "open-world fatigue" is real, and since "the world is even bigger than it was in Rebirth," Square Enix specially focused on guiding players.