Sony will have a strong software slate in the pipeline for PSVR2, and it starts with Horizon Call of the Mountain. However, the game on everyone’s lips right now is Half-Life: Alyx. Valve’s acclaimed first-person shooter is widely regarded as the greatest virtual reality game released to date, and pretty much everyone is in agreement: it must be ported to PlayStation 5’s new headset.
That means a lot of speculation is being picked up by the media. Nick Baker, an Xbox Era founder who’s gained a track-record on social media for being “in the know” is the first to claim that conversations between the companies have taken place. “[I’m] not sure when it’s happening, though. I thought this was one of those open secrets?” he said.
Baker has a mixed track record, and this is the kind of non-committal online tittle-tattle that any Twitter user could come up with – however, it’s probably safe to assume that the two companies have discussed the possibility of a conversion. Sony’s new hardware obviously has the requisite feature-set to make a port work, which is a strong start.
We have actually spoken to Valve in the past about the prospect of a PSVR port, and the company seemed open to the idea. “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,” a spokesperson told us of a potential PSVR port.
Now obviously Half-Life: Alyx is a cutting-edge virtual reality game, and the original PSVR probably wouldn’t have been a great venue for it – but it seems much more likely on Sony’s next-gen headset. We have to imagine Sony is moving Heaven and Earth to secure this game, because it would be a huge hit for PSVR2, there’s no doubt about that.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 35
The original quote when they were asked about it certainly hinted it, “Initial release” and “assume lots of Sony customers would love it”.
If I was a betting man, I’d say it’s probably close to being finished and ready for launch.
How can you be a fan of something that hasn't even been revealed yet?
@nicc83 because they're so desperate! Look at them! Desperation has them in it's thrall!! 🙄
@nicc83 It reminds me of ‘Persona 5 fans’ that only had a Switch and had never played the game.
Nar im alright. Over rated
I think desperate is kind of a stretch
Just buy a Quest 2 if you have a half decent gaming PC.
Play the game wirelessly over Virtual Desktop, it’s great.
Desperate? That's a little too much hyperbole. Lol! I'd be desperate for a lunge or kidney if I needed a transplant but not a video game.
I would however like it to come to PSVR2 if I decided to get one.
I'd be shocked if it didn't show up on it. Valve put a lot of money into that game and I'm sure they would just see PSVR2 as another outlet to make some more money off of it. Sony would obviously benefit too considering they would instantly have a perfect way to show off the new horse power of their headset.
It makes too much sense not to happen.
I think Sony will have 3-5 games ready around launch.
Half-life: Alyx, Horizon game, a horror game, something for younger people and a car game(Wipeout).
@soimun agreed. Save yourself a few hundred quid and 9 months and play it on quest 2. Simple.
@Medic_Alert
That is a good point. I sometimes forget Valve operates on a different landscape from most other devs!😅
Silent Hill in VR please!
It would be a nice launch game with PSVR2.
That and GT7, Astro Bot 2 and GTAV and you have some really good reasons to buy the new headset.
Reading the reviews and watching game play
And seeing it is 12 hour long main campaign and about 18 hours for pursuits.
Bring it on, I would buy PSVR2 for this game.
Release PSVR2 with this game and it’s all mine on release date day one.
I would love this. It would ease my fears of not being backwards compatible somewhat if it had this killer app!
Here's hoping it'll eventually come because, yes, it's one VR's greatest game.
The entire Half Life series is overrated (I haven't played this VR one but did play the originals). The PC user base can keep it for all I care but for the devs in the VR space... it would be smart to put their game on as many VR platforms as possible. I won't lose sleep either way.
I cannot stress enough how mind blowing half life Alyx is. I've been playing videogames for over 20 years and nothing has ever impressed me to the extent of Half Life Alyx. It's your childhood VR dreams come to life and it has to be experienced if you get here chance, words don't do it justice.
Desperate? Not so much. Far more excited for Astro Bot Rescue Mission 2 than anything else in VR, and I’m not even 100% that exists yet.
it's gonna happen eventually and that is the point that ill be interested in ps5 and psvr2 imo
If Half-Life: Alyx would come to PSVR2 I would buy it instantly. If not I would wait for a few years to see if enough software I'd like to play will make it to the platform.
I also played Half-Life: Alex on Oculus Quest 2 via Air Link on PC and it was truly an incredible experience. If you have a decent PC, find yourself a Quest 2, play this (and RE4VR while you're at it) and then sell it for the same price you paid for it. Make a fake FB account if you're paranoid worried about it - that's what I did.
@Medic_Alert they don't just let Steam exist. They've invested and improved upon it so much over the years that it has evolved into more than a simple digital storefront for games. This is what separates Steam from say.. the Epic Games Store. They've also poured money into other ventures like Linux and VR. They don't just sit around and collect money from Steam sales. They're always making moves
Day one buy for sure! Desperate though? Not so much. Saints and Sinners 2 on PSVR2 however.....Yeah I am desperate for that.
@Korgon I almost forget Valve is a developer anymore. They seem more akin to a monolithic platform that occasionally makes good games.
Before Alyx they've hardly released a game of note in the last decade. Dota 2 9 years ago in 2013, Portal 2 11 years ago in 2011 being the last ones of note. Since then it's been spinoffs and minigames: a few Counter Strike spin offs, Arcade cabinet L4D Survivors, VR minigame The Lab, card game Artifact & Chess game Dota Underlords.
Disappointing and hardly worthy of their reputation.
Resident Evil V(R)illage.
Nailed it.
@themightyant
Yeah once they came out with Steam and that got as popular as it did it sidelined game development for a while there. Hopefully Alyx was the start of them getting back into the swing of things game development wise.
@Korgon honestly they’ve been pretty silent since Alyx. With the Index I thought they’d be championing VR with a slate of smaller and bigger games… instead nothing.
Times have changed so much...
Needless to say I don't see why this can't be done.
@Korgon @themightyant if you follow news of what goes on inside studios, Valve seems pretty dysfunctional. It's run on libertarian philosophies where there's technically no boss and nobody assigns anyone projects, you pick what you want to work on, but then there's bonuses and people are fired based on what they contribute to the bottom line. From the sounds of it there's a lot of cool projects that get started, but are then abandoned of of fear of job security or because of politics.
Nobody ever got fired for helping Steam shift more units (either software, VR gear, or recently the Steam Deck), so that's what, for the most part, people choose to work on. It's sad because they've got/had some great talent who can make great games.
@theheadofabroom yeah I’ve read about how Valve is run for a few decades now, since before Steam, it’s still pretty secretive and little has been told in detail but enough people have discussed it for parts to be an open secret.
The flat hierarchy with no managers while an interesting experiment seems like a bad idea to me and their output over the last decade backs that up. While we’re all different and thrive under different conditions People need a balance of both a little carrot and stick to get the most out of them. Valve seems all carrot.
Huge fan of psvr. I find it to be the pinnacle of gaming and the thought of finally being able to play this…well… the hype train has left the station
@themightyant Yeah, I used to think it looked like gamedev heaven, but that was a decade ago. It has since shown, as with other libertarian experiences (cough, crypto-currency, cough) that structure exists for a reason, and whenever you try to create a new system without structure, it ends up organically forming, and is usually a less optimal structure than anything you'd design up-front. In Valve's case the issue seems to be that the lack of explicit structure creates an environment with an implicit structure which is incredibly stressful for its workers to navigate.
@theheadofabroom Agreed. While I think there are some people that can thrive just being let free to do as they please, and this is who Valve tries to hire, I think those are the minority.
Moreover this sort of unstructured system is a better fit for small agile teams and projects. That is the polar opposite of a AAA production where co-ordinating hundreds of people's timescales, deliverables and deadlines is paramount to actually shipping finished and polished products on time and on budget. While middle management is universally disliked it serves a valid purpose on projects of scale.
Of course Valve has the luxury of relative unlimited budget and seems happy to let time pass without releasing anything of note
Tap here to load 35 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...