Valve Index will be available in Australia from August

For a premium experience, the Valve Index is the best VR headset out there, but Australians have had to go through the hassle of importing one since it launched back in 2019. That’s about to change: EB Games will finally stock the Valve Index come August 18, with pre-orders now available.

For the full Valve Index VR kit you’ll spend AU$1,899.95: that includes the headset, two Index controllers and two base stations. But you can buy these piecemeal too, with the headset alone going for AU$999.95, a base station going for AU$249.95, and a two controller pack going for AU$499.95. If you want the headset and controllers with no base station, that’ll be AU$1,499.95. Depending what you’re buying, pre-order deposits range AU$200 for the full kit, through to AU$50 for a single base station or controller pack.

Since 2019 the Valve Index hasn’t been available to purchase through Steam for Australians, though it’s been possible to go through a lot of rigmarole to get one anyway: this Reddit thread from 2019 relates the experience, which required the use of a US-based parcel forwarding process. Meanwhile, third-party sellers on Amazon have been asking up to AU$2,600 for the full kit.

While the Oculus Quest 2 is nowadays our pick for the best VR headset, the Valve Index comes in a very close second, and has "best in class hardware."