There’s nothing like a good rumour to getting those tongues a-wagging and as usual, Valve is at the top of that list. When it comes to Valve there’s only one videogame which continually pops up Half-Life, even when the original is 21 years old. The latest rumour could be related to that virtual reality (VR) flagship title the company mentioned back in May for the launch of Valve Index, and then never mentioned again. The VR game, Half-Life: Alyx.
Spotted by PC Gamer, the rumour stems from a supposed interview between Geoff Keighley (The Game Awards), Valve’s Robin Walker (co-developer of Team Fortress 2) and a third person who is unknown – possibly Gabe Newell. A transcript has been leaked detailing part of this interview (remember to take all this with a handful of salt) reportedly from the same person behind a DOTA Underlords leak.
Details talked about include why Valve is only making Half-Life: Alyx as a VR title, with the response being: “I mean we would love to be delivering a version of this that you could play with a mouse and a keyboard, but as we said, it began as an exploration of VR.”
As for gameplay details for this rumoured title, an unnamed person notes: “You can see their whole body– Respond to the situation. You know, panicking, dropping clips on the ground as they fumble their weapons ’cause a zombie’s in front of them, all these things, they’re just – it’s been really fun watching playtests.” So a zombie shooter then?
If the Half-Life: Alyx rumour is true then confirmation will supposedly come in December, as part of The Game Awards 2019. That will then be followed by a March 2020 launch, which would be rather exciting. There’s less than a month to find out.
While on the subject of rumours, VRFocus reported last month about the possibility of a Horizon: Zero Dawn VR version for PlayStation VR in the works. Whilst the rumours remain unsubstantiated at this time, it would be great to see big IP’s like those mentioned coming to VR headsets, helping bolster the technology. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.