Just last week Valve announced a continuation of the Half-Life series with Half-Life: Alyx. Now week later, according to IGN, Valve’s VR headset, the Index, is selling out in the United States and Canada. According to RoadtoVR, most Index packages in the United States and Canada are sold out in Steam stores with a ‘Back in Stock Soon’ message where the order button should be. This means that gamers currently seeking the headset-only, controllers-only, and the headset and controller packages will have to wait until they come back in stock.
The only Index package gamers can still purchase is the most expensive one at $999. This package includes the headset, the controllers, two base stations, and Half-Life: Alyx. The message alongside the order states that gamers who order now will be able to receive their Index before December 25th, just in time for the holidays. It is very likely that the culprit for this increase in demand is Valve’s newly announced game Half-Life: Alyx as the all of these packages were readily available for immediate shipping until Half-Life: Alyx was announced.
According to IGN, CD Projekt Red recently answered in an investor earnings call whether they were afraid to release Cyberpunk 2077 as scheduled since both games will be releasing around the same time. In response, Andrzej Nokowski stated that there was no reason to worry. “I think it was surprise for everybody, but I think not in a way you are suggesting. VR remains an extremely nichey niche of the market, like it’s very, very small.” Conversely, Cyberpunk 2077 is releasing on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Google Stadia, giving gamers more diversity in the console they can play it on. A recent Q&A with the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 revealed that the game will have a shorter story compared to The Witcher III: Wild Hunt but it will make up for that with replayability. The game will also use Ray-Tracing to simulate how players hear certain sounds based on the distance between the player and whatever is emitting the sound. Half-Life: Alyx will be releasing in March 2020 for the Valve Index.