Valve Announcing Half-Life: Alyx VR Game On Thursday

[leech]

VR companies must be paying producers to do it. The business case for making exclusives for a smaller market than Linux just doesn't add up.

Considering Valve makes their own VR hardware and has been the main one pushing it all along, how is anyone surprised that a new Half-Life game is going to require VR hardware? The real question is, is it going to be exclusive to Index, or playable via Vive/Rift? Either way, I'm betting the Index will play it best (the controllers are fantastic for it).

[starshipeleven]

So basically, they don't think vr can sell on its own, so they need to chain an exclusive to it. They also don't think the exclusive can sell on its own, so they cash in on the neutron star of hype that is the half life fanbase. But they ALSO don't want to risk actually damaging half life's reputation, so they make a "spiritual successor" that can safely be buried if people don't like it.

That's how you do when you are in a catch-22 situation like VR is now. You give it a strong kick from outside and see if you can get the wheel spinning on its own. This is pretty normal procedure, nothing to be upset about.

[eidolon]

The internet is going to explode in Halflife/Gabe memes.

I'm expecting this to trend.

[coder]

So basically, they don't think vr can sell on its own, so they need to chain an exclusive to it.

I think it's really that a good VR game is crafted specifically for VR, and won't translate well to non-VR gameplay. That's why it's VR-exclusive, anyway.

As for whether their underlying motive is really to sell VR HMDs, I can't say.

But they ALSO don't want to risk actually damaging half life's reputation, so they make a "spiritual successor" that can safely be buried if people don't like it.

Obviously, most people don't have VR and that's not about to change. So, it makes sense that they wouldn't want to alienate non-VR fans of the Half Life franchise by weaving it tightly into the storyline.

[bachchain]

That's how you do when you are in a catch-22 situation like VR is now. You give it a strong kick from outside and see if you can get the wheel spinning on its own. This is pretty normal procedure, nothing to be upset about.

If VR is as amazing as they say it is, then people would buy into it regardless of exclusives. There would be no need for Valve to force people to get one just to play the only half-life game in over 10 years

[coder]

VR companies must be paying producers to do it. The business case for making exclusives for a smaller market than Linux just doesn't add up.

Old news. That's why Oculus originally tried to tie certain titles to their hardware, back when the Rift launched. However, they backed down, after the resulting PR shitstorm when people found there stuff had been artificially prevent from running on Vive.

In Valve's case, they make the infrastructure, their own HMD, the tech behind HTC's Vive-series, and the online marketplace. So, they're getting paid no matter what. I'm sure it's not the most profitable use of their resources, but I appreciate their efforts to push the technical envelope.

[coder]

If VR is as amazing as they say it is, then people would buy into it regardless of exclusives.

Well, it's an enticement, for sure. But, why aren't they allowed to experiment with the format, as others have done? Why does this have to be all about them pushing VR, and not a story about them wanting to explore or demonstrate its potential?

One complaint about VR that I've seen is lack of quality content. So, this helps address that problem.

[bachchain]

But, why aren't they allowed to experiment with the format, as others have done?

Experimenting is one thing, but other than a couple of still-born mobile games, VR is the only product that valve has shipped within the past five years. The sheer amount of company resources poured into this "experiment" is absurd. Meanwhile, the only update that TF2 received this year was a carbon copy of last year's Halloween event.

[coder]

Experimenting is one thing, but other than a couple of still-born mobile games, VR is the only product that valve has shipped within the past five years. The sheer amount of company resources poured into this "experiment" is absurd.

How do you know that's not just about Valve becoming more about the Steam distribution platform than being a games developer? I doubt the entire company is working only on VR.

[entropy]

Meanwhile, everyone is still waiting for half life 3

Let's put it this way, I'm more than happy that Valve announces something Half-Life related at all.
That fantastic franchise hasn't seen anything new and official for how long? 12..13 years?

If this will be received (very) well it might help pushing Valve towards a real HL3.
Who knows..