Valve hasn't been coy about its interest in virtual reality, but until now it's preferred to lend a hand to others rather than announce any product of its own. With the imminent arrival of the Steam Machines, it seems that position has changed.
Not long after Valve confirmed it will be revealing plans for 'SteamVR' at GDC 2015, the company uploaded a teasing silhouette to its Steam Universe sign-up page, as unearthed by the folk at SteamDB.
There's no guarantee that this is definitely the shape of Valve's headset, but given that it's shaped like every other HMD out in the galaxy right now, it's got to be pretty close, right?
Furthermore, our own sources have told us that the headset is out in the wild and being tested by developers. One person familiar with Valve's plans told us that the headset in its current state is technologically "superior" to the latest iteration of Oculus Rift, Crescent Bay.
Gabe's Odyssey
Despite not making any launch announcements so far, Valve did demo its own virtual reality kit to a select few developers last year. Back then, the company's seemed uninterested in releasing anything, but it may see this as the push its Steam Machines need after a rather messy journey to launch.
Valve will also be using GDC to demo the latest and final iteration of its Steam Controller, which has similarly been a long time in the making.
And, you know, there's always the chance of us seeing a certain game that ends with a '3'. Yes, we've given up on Half-Life and started campaigning for a new Portal.
Whatever the case, Valve is sure to be making the biggest splash of anyone at next week's GDC, and we'll be there to bring you all the news as it happens.
- GDC 2015: what we want to see
