RICHARD SWINBURNE / VIEW FROM TAIWAN
OPINION
A
fterwaiting 15 yearssinceHalf-Life2 waslaunched,and
over 12 yearssinceEpisode2 cameout,Valverecently
announceditslong-awaitedfollow-up,Half-Life:Alyx.
ValvestatesthenewgameisnotHalf-Life3, andthatthegame
isalsoa VRexclusive.Thetrailerturnsthehypemeterpast11,
withsomerevolutionaryfirst-personshootermechanicsthat
makeit lookimmenselyawesome.However,Valveispitchingit
asbeing‘madeforIndex’– thecompany’spremium,extremely
expensive£919headset.Unlessyou’realreadyintoVR,thismakes
thegameexclusionaryformostofus.
Valvehasstatedit’scommittedtotheHalf-LifeVRuniverse,
butwe’vehearditscommitmentsbefore,manyyearsago.I
rememberwhenValvepromisedyearlyreleasesofepisodic
Half-Lifecontent.Inthattime,Valvealso
launchedanddumpedSteamBox,SteamOS,
SteamControllerandit alsorecentlyputthe
much-anticipatedValleyoftheGodsonhiatus.
NowValvewantsustodropnearlya grand
onitspromises.Surelywe’vebeenburnedtoo
manytimestobelievethis.
Ofcourse,we’don’thavetoplayAlyx,but
thatundersellsHalf-Life,whichhashada persistentcultural
impactfor20+yearsasoneoftheall-timegreatestgaming
universesevercreated,anditwasunfinished.Ithurtsto
suddenlygetthenextinstallmentaftersomanyyears,but
thenfindit’shardware-exclusive.
Weshouldn’tcelebratesucha hugelyanticipatedfollow-up
thatdeniesplayerstheopportunityofanyexperience,just
becauseit’sHalf-Life.NoonewouldhaveacceptedAlyxbeing
hardware-lockedasRTX-only,sowhyisthisanydifferent?
Thisisn’ta digatVR,whichistheultimateimmersive
accessory– it’stheexclusivity.It’sgreattobuya racingseat,
wheelandpedalsforracingsims,butthey’renotrequired to
playthegames– youcanstillplaywitha simplecontroller or
keyboard.Lookingattheevidence,thisisa businessdecision
topushValve’sownexpensivehardware– an‘artisticright’ to
pursueitsownvisionatallcosts.
Toaddcontexttothis:in 2018 theVRmarketwasworth
$3.8billionUS(includingsoftwareandservices),but the
PC-tethered devicessuchasIndexandOculusRiftmade up
onlya fractionofthosesales.ThePlayStation4-basedPSVR is
byfarthelargestVRmarket,withoverfourmillionheadsets
sold,butAlyxwon’trunonit.Meanwhile,in 2019 thePCgaming
hardwaremarketasa wholeisexpectedtoreach$35Bn (the
wholegamingindustryis$150Bn),soclearlyPC-basedVR is a
tinyfractionoftheoverallPCplayerbase.Alyx
maybea boldstepintotheworldofVRbuton
thosenumbersit seemsdownrightfoolhardy.
It’snotlikeyoucanwaitforthe(Steam)
salestopickupa VRheadsetcheapeither.
Asa complexdevice,it willalwaysbeseveral
hundredpounds.Youcouldbuyanentry-level
VRheadset,butreviewsarefrequentlybadas
theylacksomeessentialsensors.
It’salsoexclusionarytothosewhocan’tuseVRheadsets
becauseofvisualdisability,motionsickness,ortheysimply
don’thavethespacetouseit.Valveisoneofthewealthiest
andmostcomfortablypositionedgamingdevelopersand
publishers– itcouldbemoreinclusive.Unfortunately,Valve
doesn’thavea trackrecordofmakingthebestdecisionsand
it seemstodowhateverit wants,whenit wants.“Valve-time”
isa thing,afterall.ThesmallnuggetofhopehereisthatAlyx
willhavemodsupport,sohere’shopingsomeonemakesa ‘back
port’tokeyboard,mouseandmonitorfortherestofus.HALF BAKED
Half-Life Alyx may be revolutionary, but it’s certainly exclusionary
Richard has worked in tech for over a decade, asa UKjournalist,onAsus’ROGteamandnowasanindustryanalystbasedinTaiwan @ricswi
This is a business
decision to push Valve’s
own expensive hardware