Varjo to End Support for Older XR Headsets Next Year

Varjo’s shaking things up and ditching support for its third-gen XR headsets next year. Yup, that’s XR-3, VR-3, and that snazzy Varjo Aero—out the window. Caught wind of this through XT Today. Varjo’s eyes are glued to the shiny new XR-4 Series. Yeah, those just hit the scene in late 2023, and they’re all the rage now.

Finland, Varjo’s home turf, has this FAQ thing explaining how their Varjo Base software’s getting updates till, like, January 1, 2026. After that? Nada. The owners of those older headsets can still use the software, but customer help? Yeah, no more hand-holding.

Back in 2021, Varjo really stepped out of their comfort zone—going from just enterprise to everybody. Those XR-3 and VR-3 babies? They were priced at a cool $5,495 and $3,195 respectively. But Aero, that was their debut with the prosumer crowd.

Aero, launched late in 2021, came with a $2,000 price tag. No subscription headaches like the others, and it worked like a charm with Valve Index, with a little help from Varjo Base, of course. Despite the price, people were digging it. Ben Lang from Road to VR said it had “stunning clarity” and was dreamy for VR sim fans ready to splash out.

And how about this twist: Varjo’s been out of stock for those third-gen headsets for more than a year. It’s official—they’re done making them. Their focus? The XR-4 Series. Came out in late 2023 as Varjo returned to catering to the enterprise crowd. The XR-4 lineup includes the standard XR‑4 for $5,990, the XR‑4 Focal Edition at $9,990, and the military-grade XR‑4 Secure Edition—priced between $18,000 and $32,000. Yikes.

Earlier launches didn’t need a subscription for Varjo Base, but now? That free ride’s over. March’s announcement says advanced features are tucked behind a ‘Varjo Base Pro’ license. More stuff to play around with if you’ve got the cash—and honestly, that’s a lot of the story here.