• Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Linkedin
  • Contact Us
  • Client login 
CCS Insight
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who We Serve
    • What We Do
  • Research Areas
    • View All Research AreasPlease select a Research Area from the menu on the left
      • 5G Networks
        • User Survey
        • Market Forecast
        • Quarterly Market Analysis
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Artificial Intelligence
        • Agenda Setters
        • Business IoT
        • Digital Workplace
        • Enterprise AI Market Strategies
        • Mobile Phones
        • Semiconductors
        • Smart Home
        • Telecom Operators
        • Wearables
        • Virtual and Augmented Reality
      • Agenda Setters
        • Semi-Annual Agenda Setters
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Business IoT
        • Monthly Business IoT Analysis
        • IoT Insights
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Digital Workplace
        • Survey: Digital Workplace IT Decision-Makers
        • User Survey: Employees and Technology at Work
        • Enterprise Insight
        • Event Reports
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Enterprise AI Market Strategies
        • Survey: Digital Workplace IT Decision-Makers
        • User Survey: Employees and Technology at Work
        • Enterprise Insight
        • Event Reports
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Mobile Phones
        • Market Forecast
        • Quarterly Market Analysis
        • User Survey: Mobile Phone Buying
        • Market Forecast: Rugged Phones
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Semiconductors
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Smart Home
        • User Survey: Smart Home
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Software Development and Delivery
        • Semi-Annual Market Analysis: Software Development and Delivery
        • Software Development Insight
        • User Survey: Software Development and Delivery
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Telecom Operators
        • Market Landscape and Forecast
        • Quarterly Market Analysis
        • User Survey: Mobile Phone Buying
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Virtual and Augmented Reality
        • Market Forecast
        • Quarterly Market Analysis
        • User Survey
        • Virtual and Augmented Reality Device Database
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
      • Wearables
        • Market Forecast
        • Quarterly Market Analysis
        • User Survey
        • Wearables Insight
        • Wearables Database
        • Instant Insights
        • Hotline
        • Presentations
        • Enquiry Time
  • Daily Insight
  • Events
  • Press
    • Company News
    • Media Coverage
    • Media Resources
  • Jobs
  • Menu
  • About
  • Research Areas
  • Daily Insight
  • Events
  • Press
  • Contact Us

A New Lease of Half-Life for VR

Valve’s revival of Half-Life franchise could be a big boost for VR

Last week, Valve Corporation unveiled plans to reboot its much-loved Half-Life series of video games with a fully-fledged virtual reality (VR) title. Its new game, Half-Life: Alyx, is set for release in 2020 and is already one of the most anticipated games of next year. Although the Half-Life franchise isn’t as popular as some other big names in gaming, it has a legion of dedicated fans, who have been asking for a new title for many years. This could encourage a wave of VR adoption by followers, and potentially pave the way for other game developers aiming to tap into the VR market.

For the uninitiated, Half-Life is a series of first-person shooter games set in a sci-fi universe where a player fights hordes of invading aliens and their allies. The first Half-Life game launched in 1998, with a full sequel in 2004, and a few smaller episodic sequels finishing in 2007. The reputation of the series was enhanced by the quality of the Half-Life games; they were credited with radically changing and improving the first-person shooter genre and won multiple Game of the Year awards. But because it has been dormant for over a decade, Half-Life lacks the reach of many large, modern video game franchises, making it seem like it was consigned to the history books as a cult favourite. Gamers have been clamouring for a sequel for years, to little avail until last week.

Out of the blue, Valve announced a brand new entry in the Half-Life franchise, complete with a short gameplay video that has already racked up more than 8 million views, demonstrating the level of anticipation for a Half-Life return. The new title, named Half-Life: Alyx, will land in 2020 through Valve’s SteamVR store, which works with tethered Oculus, HTC and Windows Mixed Reality devices, as well as Valve’s Index headset.

With so much buzz for the new Half-Life game comes pressure. Beyond PlayStation VR and Nintendo’s experimental use of VR on its Switch console, very few popular games franchises have made the leap to a VR edition. What’s more, big names such as Resident Evil 7 on PlayStation VR were ports of previous releases, with VR capabilities added later. However, Half-Life: Alyx marks an effort to build a major release in a popular video game franchise in VR, from scratch, and to deliver a great experience to a fanbase starved of new games. It’s undoubtedly a big task for Valve, but if it can rise to the challenge, it could have a huge impact on VR.

A well-developed, impressive Half-Life game could act as a real catalyst for enthusiasm for and adoption of VR, potentially bringing a host of fans into the VR fold. Valve will clearly see an opportunity to boost sales of its Index headset along with the launch of Half-Life: Alyx. Furthermore, online discussion boards like Reddit are already awash with people asking what set-up they’ll need to play the game. Even if people don’t buy a headset or play the game, the prevalence of game streaming on Twitch and YouTube means that awareness of VR gaming should rise as a result.

This is exciting news, but one of the big hurdles for certain VR content is the cost of building a powerful gaming set-up. Half-Life: Alyx will need a VR headset tethered to a powerful gaming PC, like the Valve Index headset, Oculus Rift S, or the HTC Vive Cosmos. Standalone devices such as the Oculus Quest, which are far more accessible, aren’t powerful enough. This could hurt the game’s ability to fuel VR adoption. And if the game fails to live up to lofty expectations, it could taint the credibility of VR as a gaming platform. However, based on what I’ve seen so far, I remain optimistic.

Half-Life: Alyx is clearly exciting video game enthusiasts, and if it manages to achieve commercial success, it could demonstrate the value of VR platforms to other software developers, potentially kick-starting efforts from other studios. This might seem like a lot of hype to place on a title, but the initial reaction far surpasses the interest in most VR games and could change the narrative for VR as a technology. I believe that the more major gaming franchises VR headsets can boast, the better, and the addition of Half-Life is a step in the right direction. It will be fascinating to see just how much of an impact the game will have on the use of VR for gaming, and whether other developers will take a page from Valve’s playbook if the game proves a success.

Leo Gebbie
Written by: Leo Gebbie
Share this Insight
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Linkedin
  • Share by Mail
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to get Daily Insights for Free

Make sure you don’t miss out on our fresh daily insights about topical news in the connected world.

Research areas

  • 5G Networks
  • Agenda Setters
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Business IoT
  • Devices
  • Digital Workplace
  • Insight
  • Mobile Phones
  • Mobile World Congress (MWC)
  • Semiconductors
  • Services
  • Smart Home
  • Software Development
  • Telecom Operators
  • Uncategorized
  • VR and AR
  • Wearables

You might also like

Mi Credit

December 11, 2019/0 Comments/in Insight, Mobile Phones /by Raghu Gopal
Read more
https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Xiaomi_s.jpg 320 600 Raghu Gopal https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CCS_Insight_logo_101.png Raghu Gopal2019-12-11 09:49:452019-12-11 09:57:02Mi Credit

Injecting Tech Innovation into Healthcare

December 10, 2019/0 Comments/in Insight, Software Development /by Cornelia Wels‑Maug
Read more
https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/VR_surgery_s.png 320 600 Cornelia Wels‑Maug https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CCS_Insight_logo_101.png Cornelia Wels‑Maug2019-12-10 09:18:172019-12-10 16:39:33Injecting Tech Innovation into Healthcare

Land of Confusion

December 9, 2019/2 Comments/in 5G Networks, Insight, Telecom Operators /by Geoff Blaber
Read more
https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/operator_mast.png 319 600 Geoff Blaber https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CCS_Insight_logo_101.png Geoff Blaber2019-12-09 09:46:102019-12-09 09:46:10Land of Confusion

Make Mine a Large One

December 6, 2019/0 Comments/in Insight, Mobile Phones /by Robert Caunt
Read more
https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Planet_Cosmo_s_3.jpg 320 600 Robert Caunt https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CCS_Insight_logo_101.png Robert Caunt2019-12-06 12:43:422019-12-06 12:43:42Make Mine a Large One

Facial Recognition Creeps Further into China

December 5, 2019/0 Comments/in Insight /by Raghu Gopal
Read more
https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/surveillance_s.png 320 600 Raghu Gopal https://www.ccsinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CCS_Insight_logo_101.png Raghu Gopal2019-12-05 10:05:372019-12-05 10:05:37Facial Recognition Creeps Further into China

Menu

  • About
  • Research Areas
  • Daily Insight
  • Events
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Follow us

  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Linkedin

Contact us

Europe
+44 8450 574 223

North America
+1 408 8861 745

Email
info@ccsinsight.com

Research areas

  • 5G Networks
  • Agenda Setters
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Business IoT
  • Smart Home
  • Digital Workplace
  • Enterprise AI Market Strategies
  • Mobile Phones
  • Semiconductors
  • Telecom Operators
  • Virtual and Augmented Reality
  • Wearables

LATEST TWEET

Tweets by CCSInsight

© 2019 CCS Insight

Model Behaviour Las Vegas Bets on AI to End Gridlock
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings

How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our site functions. You can block or delete them by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds: