UPDATE
Valve Index Pre-orders Start May 1st, Shipping in June
After months of speculation, Valve confirmed the existence of their own virtual reality (VR) headset, the “Index” – with more to come in May.
News comes way of a surprise reveal on Valve’s Steam store with a promotional image of the headset with the tagline “Upgrade your experience,” and a date for May 2019. Based off of the marketing tone of the tagline, this reveal clues into a product launch for consumers to rival the upcoming Spring release of the Oculus Rift S. The rivalry seems to come full-force with Valve highlighting the mechanical IPD (interpupillary distance) available on the Index, as opposed to the fixed IPD on the Rift S which has caused a small amount of controversy (even from Oculus founder Palmer Luckey).
Though no compatible games or apps have been revealed as of this writing, Valve’s formal entry into the VR headset market could also provide VR’s killer app. In 2004, in order to play the hotly-anticipated Half-Life 2, Valve required gamers to install Steam in order to play it. At the time, most PC games were purchased in brick and mortar stores. 15 years later, the PC games market has shifted almost entirely to digital distribution. Awakening the long dormant Half-Life franchise may be what VR needs to spread mass adoption of not just the Index, but of VR as a whole.
