Monday, April 13th 2020
Half Life: Alyx - The VR "Killer App" That Likely Wasn't
VR was hailed as the next frontier in games entertainment. However, reality hasn't quite lived up to the narrative. Even with support from giants such as Facebook and Valve, and mainstream support provided by PlayStation in its PlayStation VR, the adoption of this technology for the mainstream crowd has been slow. At first, problems with expensive user-end pricing drove slow adoption rates; then, as technology progressed, and prices went down, users were met with a low number of high-quality apps or games that actually provided them with reasons to boot up or invest in the technology.
Half Life: Alyx could have been the "killer app" that VR needed for a booming mainstream adoption - much like the original Halo was the sales point for many an Xbox system back in the days. However, it seems that this isn't the case - and likely won't ever be. Half Life: Alyx is set in one of gaming's most iconic franchises; for all accounts, it's an incredibly acclaimed game, featuring a 93 aggregate review score on Metacritic, and a mightily impressive 9.1 in user reviews. However, as it stands, the game was not unlike a popping balloon: it peaked at 16,459 concurrent players on the day of release, and has since seemingly settled in a 3,000 average concurrent player count. This speaks nothing of the game's quality, as we've seen: it speaks to the adoption of VR.
As we've seen, PC hardware sales have seen an increase motivated by the "quarantine bubble" many countries across the world are now experiencing. And while PC hardware sales have increased, they have done so in products that are mostly geared towards reducing social distancing. The asking price for a new VR headset, alongside limited usage scenarios; low adoption amongst friends and relatives of would-be-purchasers of the tech; and the absence of a developed ecosystem; all seem to concurrently lead to there not being a relevant sales increase. No reports have surfaced on the increased sales rate of VR headsets since the quarantine has been enacted in many countries across the globe.
It seems that there still is a long way to go for VR to become mainstream: whether a new generation of cheaper products, the democratization of wireless adapter solutions, cross-platform support for your smartphone, PC and console... Whatever the solution for that particular equation is (and the solution will likely eventually be found), it seems that Half Life: Alyx wasn't the killer app to tip the scales. Which is a shame. But until that killer app, or killer conjunction of variables, surfaces, you can try to play Half Life: Alyx without a VR headset via some mods that have already been released for the game. It's not the same, obviously; and it's not Half Life 3. But it's something. It's something.
Sources:
Metacritic, Steam Charts, PC Gamer
Half Life: Alyx could have been the "killer app" that VR needed for a booming mainstream adoption - much like the original Halo was the sales point for many an Xbox system back in the days. However, it seems that this isn't the case - and likely won't ever be. Half Life: Alyx is set in one of gaming's most iconic franchises; for all accounts, it's an incredibly acclaimed game, featuring a 93 aggregate review score on Metacritic, and a mightily impressive 9.1 in user reviews. However, as it stands, the game was not unlike a popping balloon: it peaked at 16,459 concurrent players on the day of release, and has since seemingly settled in a 3,000 average concurrent player count. This speaks nothing of the game's quality, as we've seen: it speaks to the adoption of VR.
It seems that there still is a long way to go for VR to become mainstream: whether a new generation of cheaper products, the democratization of wireless adapter solutions, cross-platform support for your smartphone, PC and console... Whatever the solution for that particular equation is (and the solution will likely eventually be found), it seems that Half Life: Alyx wasn't the killer app to tip the scales. Which is a shame. But until that killer app, or killer conjunction of variables, surfaces, you can try to play Half Life: Alyx without a VR headset via some mods that have already been released for the game. It's not the same, obviously; and it's not Half Life 3. But it's something. It's something.
61 Comments on Half Life: Alyx - The VR "Killer App" That Likely Wasn't
But for me, Beat Saber was the reason to buy an used Oculus CV1 from my friend when he upgraded to Rift S.
Maybe in a year or two when i save up for a headset. (probably a Vive or index)
Prove the quality is good, it's affordable, and it's more useful than my macropad and we might have a sale.
"However, as it stands, the game was not unlike a popping balloon: it peaked at 16,459 concurrent players on the day of release, and has since seemingly settled in a 3,000 average concurrent player count. This speaks nothing of the game's quality, as we've seen: it speaks to the adoption of VR."
I mean, what a derp moment....
Honestly, PS4 (even Pro) leaves to be desired when it comes to performance in VR.
Its quite a stretch that, just because you are still waiting, everybody else is doing the same. A much bigger leap than the consensus that VR isn't really gaining momentum all that much. Some, but not much.
As for demand bigger than supply... that is just about standard procedure for ANY new product release.
The Valve Half-Life: Alyx forums are clogged with none players who want to play the game But can’t or won’t due to the VR prerequisite. This usually takes the form of a complaint or a request to make a non-VR version of the game. This doesn’t address the “sour grapes“ demographic, which are the people who want to play but won’t admit it. They are tougher to spot but having a very strong opinion of the game (saying it’s garbage for example) while having zero experience with it could be a sign.You may have a point there but that would be difficult or impossible to quantify.
I too would have liked to have seen the PSVR made available to PC users as a viable official option. That would have put the PSVR in direct competition with the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. The PSVR tracking would have put it at something of a disadvantage IMO but it would have been forgivable at a lower price point.
I don’t really fault Sony for this decision though. Ultimately, the bigger missed opportunity IMO would be Microsoft’s decision not to allow support for WMR HMD’s on the Xbox One. Microsoft did the opposite of what Sony did When they could have had their VR HMD on their own in-house gaming set top box as well as PC.
Point being, a sudden shortage does not point at massive popularity and it certainly doesn't point to mass adoption.Sales don't lie, they never do. Everything else is hot air. So far, the concurrent player counts do not point at momentum. The total number of sold headsets don't either. That is what we have.
I'll also add this : whoever had the 1000$ or whatever for the Valve VR gear probably was already into VR and had the means to play it. I just can't picture how someone that desperate wouldn't have given in and played the game anyway.If they wanted to play the game that bad they'd buy a VR kit, but they didn't, so clearly the incentive to play it wasn't that high. I sure would have liked to play the game but it simply didn't convince me to buy a VR set.
It's a "want to be in shape but puts no effort in it" kind of thing to make an analogy. Many people would like to but most can't be bothered, a few will do it though, can you really put both in the same group ? Clearly somewhere you'd have to draw a line between those who mean it and those who don't.
It is at times difficult to make the distinction definitively between those that legitimately want an avenu to play the game and those that are just trolling or trying to stir the pot.
The point I was trying to make was subtle though. How badly someone wants to play HL:A isn’t the point but rather that there are those in the gaming community that feel underserved by the requirements to play (VR prerequisite) but otherwise would play. It’s a reality that there were a lot of people waiting for a new Half-Life game.
Ergo, the number of people wanting to play is greater then the number of people actually playing. Statistics about an installed base in this respect is irrelevant.
This is not a referendum on VR pro or con, it’s about the basic desire of a gamer to play,.....a game.
There is a lot of hostility towards Valve for releasing a new Half-Life title that isn’t Half-Life 3 with specificity let alone a VR only title.
Valve knew that there would be a lot of salivation over a new Half-Life title and they weren’t altogether wrong on that point but they are missing the mark on broad appeal and or accessibility. Valve knew this and went along this course anyway,.....
HL2 release had a lot of controversy due to forced Steam installation/account/platform/DRM. Keep in mind that online platforms did exist but were not a major thing at that point.
Visit youtube "unreal academy", there are some links there
Anger and vitriol very rarely make people think calmly and clearly though.
Similarly, someone might say they aren't buying another Valve game until Team Fortress 3 comes out or Portal 3 comes out. It's their prerogative,.....
They might boycott Steam altogether,....
I have no such self imposed limits though,....
If Valve comes out with Portal 3, I'll try playing it if its within my power to play. If its a Portal VR only game I'd be willing to try that too.
The reason for the back order is because of low volumes in manufacturing...aka nobody is willing to take a risk on a product that more than likely won't sell in any kind of profitable volumes so they are taking orders to drastically reduce the risk of loss....They are literally asking you to pay for it before they make it...not only that but they are more than likely waiting for a large group before producing a new batch.
The product here is the Valve Index and they are using Alyx to sell it...while they take little to no risk.
Imagine if Microsoft or Sony took the same approach...
I'm not hating on VR...and I can't wait until someone with an actual business approach takes on the challenge to bring to the masses...What Valve did here was pathetic.
I actually hope Epic takes on VR...