Valve now selling replacement Index cables and single controllers

[Ravenger]

Good news for Index owners, we can now buy replacement cables and single controllers from Steam.

They're a trifle pricy - £119 for the cable, and £139 for a controller, but at least we can now get replacements if we can't claim the warranty.

Now I won't have to fear a broken cable will make my headset unusable due to lack of replacements (glances at Oculus), and I can buy a single controller if I break one of them, rather than a pair.

 

[melmac]

That's good news!! Surprised it took them so long.

Just a thought though, does this mean that they aren't planning on releasing an upgrade to the Index anytime soon?

 

[Ravenger]

That's good news!! Surprised it took them so long.

Just a thought though, does this mean that they aren't planning on releasing an upgrade to the Index anytime soon?

Well the controllers are still pretty much state of the art, so I don't imagine a massive upgrade there. It could be the Index cable is good enough to run a higher resolution headset, so maybe it'll work for a new headset too.

It's been a big complaint for a while though that you can't get cables or single controllers, so it's nice to see Valve have moved on this.

 

[kevman]

Good news - cable price is absolute joke though surely

 

[Ravenger]

Good news - cable price is absolute joke though surely

It's expensive, but unfortunately not unusual for a custom cable of that length. It's an active cable with a breakaway connector and custom connectors.
The official Oculus Quest USB cable is £90 for example, though you can get cheaper (but worse) alternatives, and of course with Airlink you don't need a cable at all.

 

[BigBANGtheory]

What is unfortunate is short warranty periods on expensive items which should last for years. If you damage your cable or controller by accident or neglect I get it but if you look after it and it just stops working one day that really should be on the manufacturer to replace.

Good news they are at least available though.

 

[Ravenger]

I'm pretty fanatical about untwisting my cable after every use. But then I don't have much room to move around, so I generally play standing facing one direction, and only occasionally manually turn. Users with larger playspaces find it harder to stop cable twists, and of course there's all the stories of dogs or cats chewing the cables, so I can see why replacements are necessary.