The Valve Index has been sold out for nearly three months, and not much is going to change in the coming months. Due to the breakout of COVID-19 in mainland China, there has been a plethora of production issues with Valve and their hardware. This isn’t the first time the formally-named Coronavirus has impacted the virtual reality section of consumers. Oculus products have also been removed from plenty of the virtual and digital shelves.
Half-Life: Alyx seems like it will be the VR release of the year, but with the lack of Valve headsets on the market, the company could take a big hit upon release day. With that being said, the company said they are working hard to get the headset back on shelves before the end of March for the HLA release and launch.
The entire package that Valve is working on is the ‘Full Kit’ which includes the high-end VR headset, the Valve controllers, and the two 2.0 Base Stations. Like we mentioned, they have been sold out for some time. This came when the new VR Half-Life game was announced. There wasn’t any Black Friday deals that pushed the headsets, just pure excitement for the newest VR exclusive title from Valve.
Half-Life: Alyx will work with all PC VR headsets that are SteamVR compatible though. So if you strike out on the Index before March, no worries. You will even be able to connect your Quest via Link to play HLA.
You can read the full statement below.
“With Half-Life: Alyx coming March 23rd, we are working hard to meet demand for the Valve Index and want to reassure everyone that Index systems will be available for purchase prior to the game’s launch. However, the global Coronavirus health crisis has impacted our production schedules so we will have far fewer units for sale during the coming months compared to the volumes we originally planned. Our entire team is working hard right now to maximize availability. To receive a notification as soon as the Valve Index is back in stock, please visit Steam and click “Notify Me.”
Hopefully Valve can meet the demands of their customers. They are missing out on money by not allowing any back orders, but it seems like it will work out best for them in the end, as they aren’t sure the demand they will be able to meet for the time being. For more VR news and gaming community updates, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
