Valve Confirms Development of New VR Headset

Valve, a developer and distributor of digital games, is eager to revolutionize the virtual reality market by introducing a new headset to replace its previously released Valve Index. In a recent interview with This Is Game, Greg Coomer, a product designer at Valve, enthusiastically confirmed that the company is actively working on a new VR headset. 

“I can tell you for sure that we’ve been working on a VR headset lately. This is because Valve has a lot of expertise in VR devices and has faith in the medium of VR and VR games,”

Coomer stated.

However, he couldn’t confirm the existence of any specific product or disclose when the device will be launched. The same is applicable for their game projects, as there are various ongoing projects, but none can be announced at this time. Valve also has multiple game projects in progress, but none are ready to be announced yet.

Valve is a prominent player in the PC gaming industry, known for its digital storefront Steam and acclaimed games like Half-Life and Portal. Although the company has shifted focus to hardware in recent years, releasing the Valve Index and Steam Deck (a handheld gaming device for PC), the Index struggled to compete with rival headsets from Oculus and HTC Vive. Nevertheless, Valve has shown continued interest in VR technology, filing a patent for a new VR controller in 2022.

In the interview, Coomer spoke about Valve encouraging Korean users to provide feedback through various channels, such as Steam forums and email. The company plans to hold hands-on events in Korea for the Steam Deck and collaborate with distributors and PC rooms.

Sony recently released PlayStation VR2, which has been highly praised by gamers. This device is available at a price point that is 50% lower than the Valve Index. However, Sony PlayStation VR2 had a slow start due to the unstable metaverse and VR market. IDC reported that only 270,000 units would sell by the end of March. This raises concerns for Valve as well, as the company is currently developing another VR headset amidst the declining interest in the technology.