As interest in themetaverseheats up, many companies are pouring more resources into virtual and augmented reality — except one. Valve may be shifting its focus from VR to its already sold-out Steam Deck, according to recent rumors.
Valve insider Tyler McVicker put out aYouTube videodetailing Valve’s plans (or lack there of) for virtual reality. McVicker points out that most of the company has lost interest in VR completely. This is mostly due to the massive success of Meta (formerly Facebook) putting out relatively low-cost headsets under the former Oculus brand and buying out many big VR developers. Instead, Valve is focusing its efforts on showcasing the versatility and power of itsupcoming Steam Deckportable gaming PC.
As far as the refocus on the Steam Deck, the company was apparently working on a VR title called “Project Citadel,” but is now reworking the game for the Steam Deck to show off its capabilities. According to aReddit postalso reporting about McVicker’s video, Project Citadel will be some kind of hybrid shooter/real-time strategy game and is set to be revealed within the next two years.
This entire rumor is interesting considering how the rest of the industry is trying to take advantage of virtual and augmented realities technologies to create the metaverse — or at least extend it to new territory. Facebook literallychanged its name to “Meta”to reflect its focus on building the metaverse and headsets that transport you to it.
Unitypurchased visual effects studio Weta Digitalwith ambitions to shape the “future of the metaverse.” Nvidia’s CEO believes the metaverse will be alarger economic forcethan the real world. Even Microsoft istrying to transform Teamsinto a “gateway to the metaverse.”
Valve was one of the earliest commercial successes in VR, with many hardware companies adopting Valve’s SteamVR platform.HTC’s Vive headsetshave been competitive with Meta’s Rift and Quest lineups, as has Valve’s ownIndex headset. The excellentHalf-Life: Alyxis a VR showcase and arguably one of the best VR games on the market.
Meta has madeseveral big VR purchasesthat help bolster its own VR headset platform. In 2019,Facebook bought Beat Games, developer of the massively popular VR titleBeat Saber.Combined with the success of the Oculus Quest 2, which doesn’t require a beefy gaming PC, Meta is definitely in aposition of strengthin regard to the VR market.
On the other hand, the Steam Deck is one of the most anticipated pieces of gaming hardware right now. Valve hasdelayed shipments of the Steam Deckto next year citing component shortages and demand.
Given the state of PC hardware (especially graphics cards), the Steam Deck provides a much easier and portable way to get into PC gaming while beingmore powerful and versatile than the Nintendo Switch.
Valve has since provideda response to IGNabout the rumors that downplay the accuracy of McVicker’s claims:
“It’s good to view [Valve News Network content creator Tyler McVicker’s] coverage with a healthy dose of skepticism. We think it’s important to reiterate that while Tyler is a passionate gamer, he has no inside information about what goes on at Valve. As you know, any important announcements on projects that we are or aren’t working on will come directly from us.”
