Half-Life: Alyx released five years ago.
Considered by many to be the best VR game ever made, Alyx arrived just under nine months after Index as the first of the three “full” Valve VR games Valve had teased before the headset’s release.
The problem, of course, is that the other two games never arrived, with Valve confirming upon Alyx’s release that they weren’t even in development. In the almost six years since launching the $1000 Index, Valve has released just one game and commissioned two 15-minute demos (Aperture Hand Lab and Moondust).
Valve: “At The Moment, There Aren’t Three Other VR Titles In Development”
Back in February 2017, Valve’s Gabe Newell revealed that the company was working on three ‘full’ VR games. Over three years on, and we finally have one of those games in Half-Life: Alyx, out today (review here!). Are there still two other new Valve VR games on the way?
No other gaming platform holder would get away with releasing just one game and two demos for its hardware in six years. Imagine the reaction, and the headlines, had Nintendo had done this with Switch, or Sony with PlayStation 5. But for some reason Valve is given a free pass.
Ironically, it’s Meta that is constantly accused of abandoning, or being on the verge of abandoning, VR gaming. Every year without fail, our industry comes up with rumors and theories about how Meta will pull out of gaming any second now. Yet since Alyx launched, Meta has delivered Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, Lone Echo 2, Resident Evil 4 VR, Assassin’s Creed Nexus, Asgard’s Wrath 2, and Batman: Akrham Shadow – essentially a blockbuster VR title every year, at least. It’s also funded hundreds of smaller developers, while we’ve seen no indication of Valve doing the same.
Meta: “We’re Still Investing Massively In VR Gaming And Don’t Plan To Stop”
Meta says it funded over 100 VR & mixed reality titles that shipped in 2024, as well as over 200 currently in “active production”.
I bring this up Valve’s lack of commitment to VR because in my view, it’s one of the few companies that truly understands the medium, and thus its absence is sorely felt.
Half-Life: Alyx isn’t a flatscreen game shoehorned into VR, as so many other VR titles unfortunately still are. It’s an example of content made from the ground up for virtual reality. Despite its narrative scale, Alyx focuses on polished hand-object interactions, doesn’t get bogged down by janky IK arms, and prioritizes a sharp presentation with high-resolution textures and high quality materials over flashy dynamic lighting.
In our timeline, SteamVR has grown over the past six years, but at a glacial pace. Can we imagine a timeline where Valve leveraged its other IPs like Counter-Strike, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress, and Dota to release blockbuster VR title every year? Is it really too much to ask that the one company to make serious profit from PC VR invests in its future?
“But that’s just not Valve’s style!” you may argue. And you may be right. But in that case Valve should fund other developers to build great SteamVR content. Rather than commission Cloudhead Games to make a 15-minute Portal-themed demo, why not a 15-hour Portal-themed game?
“But Valve is a much smaller company than Meta!”, you may continue. And while it’s true that Valve isn’t Meta scale, it isn’t as small as it’s sometimes depicted. Valve is estimated to bring in $10 billion revenue each year, and Gabe Newell reportedly owns multiple “superyachts”. Valve hasn’t been an indie darling for decades, now. It can afford to invest in VR.
“But Valve just doesn’t want to artificially inflate the market”, you may further retort. But in that case, why release Alyx in the first place?
Half-Life: Alyx Review – Supremely Polished, Surprisingly Familiar, Occasionally Awkward And Unshakably Essential VR
Second chances. Not everyone gets one. And yet, in Half-Life: Alyx, Valve finds itself with an embarrassment of them. Forget all that ‘back from the dead’ stuff for a minute; you don’t need me to tell you Half-Life has been away for a very long time. More pressing is
How Gabe Newell spends his money is ultimately up to him. But if we’re going to call for greater investment in VR gaming from platform holders, Valve should be at the top of our list. I say this that because I love Half-Life: Alyx, and I believe our industry would greatly benefit from seeing more from the geniuses behind it.
