The words above adorn the Valve Index subsite, a site otherwise bereft of information, suggesting that Valve is preparing to enter the VR market. — AFP Relaxnews
A bare-bones section of Valve's company website indicates that the PC gaming giant will announce a new virtual reality headset for May 2019.
"Upgrade your Experience. May 2019".
Those words adorn the Valve Index subsite and lurk within its meta data and html code, a site otherwise bereft of information.
Still, its presence suggests that Valve is preparing to enter the VR market with its own take on consumer-grade hardware.
Valve previously collaborated with Taiwanese hardware manufacturer HTC to produce the 2016 HTC Vive, one of several contemporary enthusiast-grade VR headsets, and it looks like a major revision is on its way.
The Valve Index's image lines up with November 2018 leaks of mid-year prototypes whose circuit boards were stamped with the Valve logo.
Yet HTC is already planning the release of a different headset, the US$799 (RM3,264) untethered Vive Focus Plus, in April.
It joins a range that includes the base US$499 (RM2,039) Vive VR, US$1099 (RM4,491) Vive Pro Starter Kit, and US$1,399 (RM5,717) enterprise-level Vive Pro Full Kit, with a new Cosmos line announced.
Meanwhile, Facebook's Oculus is preparing to launch an untethered Oculus Quest at US$299 (RM1,222) and US$499, depending on storage, to complement the standard US$799 Oculus Rift.
However, unlike the HTC Vive, the Valve Index bears Valve Corporation's brand name on its front face.
The gaming company, whose releases include those in the Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead and Dota franchises, also owns and operates PC gaming platform Steam.
Previous manufactured hardware devices include the touch-sensitive Steam controller, which adapts mouse and keyboard inputs for a PC gamepad, and the Steam Link, a set-top box that connects computers in one room with TV screens in another. – AFP Relaxnews
