It’s fair to say that VR systems haven’t exactly been selling like hotcakes in the past couple of years, with relatively few VR games that brought the entirety of the system to bear with fresh new mechanics. All of that changed when the fire nation attacked when Valve announced the upcoming Half-Life: Alyx, finally bringing the world what they’ve been begging for years to experience; more Half-Life.
After the announcement, the Valve Index was out of stock in the vast majority of nations; Japan was one of the last locations to have the Index system in stock. Since then, there hasn’t been any news. Trying to find a Valve Index for sale became a monumental task as everyone was looking for them, eager to set the system up before Half-Life: Alyx becomes available on March 23, 2020.
The widespread of COVID-19 continued to foil industry and fans alike as workers simply weren’t available to continue to build and ship the units, leaving to a VR drought across the medium. All of that is past, now, as Valve has announced a new incoming shipment of the Index systems that will go on sale Monday, March 9th.
Valve Index VR kits will be available for purchase this Monday, March 9th, starting at 10 AM PDT (5 PM UTC). https://t.co/OpNs4U04JN pic.twitter.com/rtI7hGEJIT
— Valve (@valvesoftware) March 4, 2020
Forewarned is forearmed; there is a vast number of people that want to get their hands on this system, and it will sell impressively quick once it becomes available on March 9th. In a prepared statement, Valve warned consumers as such, eyeing the demand for the product along with the number of systems that will actually be available. Valve expects to run out of stock quickly, likely before the close of Monday.
If you’re looking for a certified Valve Index VR system, you’ll want to be waiting to refresh right at 1000 PDT on March 9th, at the link Valve posted in their tweet.
If you happen to be busy during this limited time, you’ll likely be able to pick one up after the stock comes through, although in the same way that many other stock-limited accessories do.
Third-party sellers will be very interested in maximizing their profits for a quick flip. Don’t be entirely surprised to see the systems selling for over $2,000 on websites such as eBay, as everyone will be frantic to get their hands on the system before Half-Life: Alyx gets spoiled across the internet.
Regardless of what may arise in the event that Valve sells out as quickly as they are expecting, it bodes well that they’ve managed to get another shipment of systems in before the monumental release of what the fans have been asking for years: more Half-Life.
