Half-Life: Alyx is the most anticipated virtual reality game in recent memory. Because virtual reality hasn’t been considered mainstream for very long, this might be the most anticipated virtual reality game in the history of… ever. The game itself can’t pull all of the weight though, and Valve and Steam knows that. When HLA releases in March, it will only be in one digital storefront, and that will be the SteamVR store. Steam has been giving the store minor updates all year, but the store seems to be completely changing in the near future. Except the second coming of SteamVR to be on your PC soon.
SteamVR isn’t something that gets noticed a whole bunch, and thats a good thing. You typically don’t want your operating system or home screen to be something that people care too much about. Valve has turned Steam into something that is simply a housing unit for the games and nothing more, but they are hard at work for a bigger picture. The company said that they released around ten software updates to the platform in the last 12 months, and it will only continue to get better. In their year in review, Valve says that they are “hard at work on SteamVR 2.0, which will feature a number of customer experience improvements.”
Added Functionality
SteamVR 2.0 has been in the works for some time, but the added functionality and features are still a mystery to many. Don’t expect a massive overhaul that you see with your iOS devices that you see in biennial fashion. SteamVR users are likely to see a modest amount of bug fixes and updates within this 2.0 update.
The current operating software that everyone is running right now is the 1.10.12 beta. You’ll know when the newest software hits, as it will likely change to 2.0. You’ll see some key improvements, but we still aren’t sure on what that means for the functionality. It will improve, but not many people know in what areas you’ll see improvements.
As for the timing of the software update, we haven’t heard anything official yet. Unofficially, we have some speculation on what Valve could be aiming to do. If they are sincerely focused on this Half-Life game being a turning stone for virtual reality, getting the update out by March could be big. If they don’t get it out before then, there would be no rush to get the software out.
Our prediction is the beginning of March. It would leave time for one more patching update before the release of the game. If not, mid-summer would also be a time we could see the SteamVR 2.0 roll out. For more VR news and community updates, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
