When Valve announced Half-Life: Alyx, they made it clear that this was a VR title through-and-through. Developed from the ground up with SteamVR in mind, there are no plans to release a more traditional version, which leaves a lot of gamers out in the cold.
That being said, just because there are no plans to release a non-VR version of the game doesn’t mean that it can’t come to other VR platforms. While Valve is understandably laser-focused on the upcoming PC release of Half-Life: Alyx, they’ve in no way closed the door on porting the game to other platforms. No news isn’t always the same as bad news.
Talking to gaming site PushSquare, Half-Life: Alyx designer Greg Coomer heaped praise on Sony’s PS VR headset, saying that they haven’t “ruled anything out” about bringing the game to a Sony console.
“We believe Sony’s VR platform has been a huge success for the medium, and we assume that lots of Sony customers would love to experience this new chapter of Half-Life.”
He’s absolutely right when he says that Sony players want to experience Half-Life: Alyx, something made abundantly clear when it was announced that the game would be exclusive to VR. While the Half-Life series might have originated on PC, Valve’s Orange Box enjoyed tremendous success on home consoles, so it’s not surprising that support for the franchise spans across multiple platforms. VR tech isn’t cheap and there are a lot of gamers without, so they definitely made their voices heard when they learned they wouldn’t be able to play Valve’s upcoming game.
Does this mean that the game is definitely coming to a Sony console, whether it’s the Playstation 4 or next year’s Playstation 5? Nothing is certain. Not ruling something out is a far cry from confirming or even suggesting that it will happen. It’s definitely a possibility, especially considering that the PC version will no doubt sell like gangbusters.
If the game does come to Playstation, it will be a sad day for Xbox gamers. Microsoft doesn’t have any VR technology for their Xbox line, and just as recently as a few days ago Xbox head Phil Spencer doubled down on the company’s disinterest in any sort of Xbox VR.
According to Spencer, Xbox gamers don’t want VR. Putting words into the mouth of consumers is a common tactic when companies aren’t looking to pursue a certain avenue. A poll on the subject might just prove Spencer wrong, especially after the release of Half-Life: Alyx and especially after a potential Playstation release.