Valve’s VR headset has been completely sold out for some time now, and although promises have previously been made that the Valve Index will be back in stock before the launch of Half-Life: Alyx, it seems that the coronavirus will mean far fewer units than expected will actually go on sale.
The outbreak of the virus has had a considerable impact across the tech world, particularly in terms of interfering with the shipping of components and hardware, and Valve has told UploadVR that it will impact the availability levels of its VR hardware.
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There will apparently be “far fewer units” for sale in the coming months than Valve originally thought, although the company still insists that there will be stock available to buy before the launch of Half-Life: Alyx.
The full statement from Valve reads: “With Half-Life: Alyx coming March 23rd, we are working hard to meet demand for the Valve Index and want to reassure everyone that Index systems will be available for purchase prior to the game’s launch.
“However, the global Coronavirus health crisis has impacted our production schedules so we will have far fewer units for sale during the coming months compared to the volumes we originally planned.”
Steam stock
The company then reminds us that the best thing to do right now is to visit the Valve Index product page on Steam, where you can request a notification of when the hardware is back in stock – and hopefully move quickly enough to buy one, if you’re one of those keenly awaiting the opportunity to do so.
As we’ve previously observed, Valve’s headset sold out almost immediately in the US and Canada, and by January, was out of stock pretty much everywhere across the globe.
While it’s by no means mandatory to have the Index for Half-Life: Alyx – as the game supports a broad range of VR hardware – Valve has made something of a big deal about its headset offering the best VR experience for the game. After all, Alyx was developed with the Index in mind, so it’s not surprising that a good many folks are now clamoring to get hold of one of the devices.
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