This morning, SteamVR made a few minor but important changes to their storefront. Although this is no huge news, this is certainly something worth noting. On the right hand side of the store under VR Support and, we can now see an icon for the Valve Index. SteamVR is certainly getting all off their software ready for the big release of Valves upcoming headset.
With the Index already being listed on thousands of VR titles inside of Steam as a compatible headset, this is just one of the last steps to make sure this major headset has full inclusion. The Index wasn’t added to the game list by the developers, meaning that SteamVR has been working on this release for the past months with dedication.
It is sure that most, if not all, games on SteamVR will support the Index. We know they should, but seems like after the headset has been received by consumers, there’s always a few more bugs to workout. We know that the Index will work flawlessly with the HTC Vive controllers, but there is some uncertainty hanging around the Index Controllers themselves. We know the new controller holds some pretty outstanding features, such a finger tracking. We are still not sure which games have baked that into the development. That will certainly be known well before the public gets they hands on the Index.
Along with the support from SteamVR for the Index, we have seen Steam clean up their experience as a whole. The way you search for games is now a bit different before, and it is for the better. Before today, when you would search for a game on Steam, you would see the given icon for each headset by the game. If you saw the icon of your headset by the game, you were in luck. This means that you would be able to play the game with your given headset.
Now when you search for games inside of Steam, you are going to see a message that the game is either “VR Supported” or “VR Only.” If you neither of these messages by the game, you will be out of luck. As the popularity of virtual reality grows, so will the library of games to play. In the coming year, you can expect your favorite PC games to take a leap into the virtual world and see what it is like.
Here you can see what the games inside of the VR portion of the store will look like if the game is supported by multiple headsets.
Below will be a key of which icon correlates with what headset.
Here you can see what a game will look like if it only supported by SteamVR
Below is what games will look like if you are unable to play it on any virtual reality headset.
SteamVR is not the only ones excited for the Valve Index. The pre-orders are more than sold out, and if you decide to order now you will likely be waiting until September to get your headset. The Index itself costs $499, and is perfectly compatible with the HTC Base Stations and HTC Controllers. The headset also can be ordered in a package for $999 that includes the Valve Controllers along with HTC Base Stations 2.0. we don’t know how much better these stations are than the 1.0 versions, but we can assume that they will respond slightly better than the 1.0 stations with the newer headset.
