4 ms·

Valve sold 103,000 Index VR headsets after Half-Life: Alyx reveal

27 points by Impossible 7y ago

FullyFunctional 7y ago
In other news, water is wet! I doubt anyone is surprised by how important the release-shy HL franchise is, but the real tsunami will come when the thing is real and independently reviewed.
- hnuser123456 7y ago
  Of course, short term, the quality of the game experience is going to determine the initial response in terms of Index and VR sales, but long term, the quality of the development tools is going to be a major factor, just like with HL2 and source. If the tools are easy to use, and allow for any mildly motivated individual to create original, unique, immersive, interactive, hands-on experiences (especially co-op or pvp multiplayer), it will truly be a new era of video game creativity.
kfarr 7y ago
At $1k per headset these numbers get interesting. And only 1 month of sales. I realize low margin, it's hardware and all, but $100m in headset sales in one month? Is my math right?
anw 7y ago
The main meat of the article seems to come from https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/superdata-xr-update https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/superdata-xr-update Which states: > Valve sold 149K Index headsets in 2019. Sales more than doubled from Q3 to Q4 (103K) thanks to anticipation for Half-Life: Alyx, which was announced in November and is slated to arrive in March. The Index sold more units than any other PC VR headset during the quarter despite a steep price of up to $1000. It would have sold even more if not for inventory issues (the device is currently sold out worldwide). It’s not hard to imagine gamers spending $1,000 USD for such a game changing (pardon the pun) piece of hardware. Being a gamer, it’s not unusual to budget $1500+ for a build, and if this is truly the future of gaming, it’s more than worth it to a lot of early adapters — especially for a new Valve game. Anecdotally, I first remember watching a friend play Half Life 2. The combination of graphics, game mechanics, and gameplay led me to save all the money I could to buy a brand new computer that could handle it. Valve doesn’t release often, but when it does it’s so far been ground breaking and a total immersion of craftsmanship.
ryuukk_ 7y ago
2 questions: - how was it in the top selling list (steam) for so long way before that - how come with such numbers it is not in that list anymore? Possibility: - they fake data in their top selling list (steam) - this data is fake to boost sales
lostmsu 7y ago
I find it surprising, that Samsung Odyssey and other VR headsets did not make top 5 list despite much lower price. That actually makes me question reliability of this data.
- crocodiletears 7y ago
  The kind of person who purchases a system exclusively to play an unreleased game title, especially the latest in a series in over a decade and a half, is rarely concerned about the economics of their decision, they just want the best. I've had friends with barely two pennies to run together buy new PCs, monitors, desks, and chairs on credit for little more than a slightly better play experience in anticipation of a release. I'd wager that's even more true for half-life, since its fans are likely older and more established than Steams typical "hardcore" gamer.
  - lostmsu 7y ago
    I understand the uptick in Index sales because of that. But there are 4 other headsets listed, and somehow none of them are of the Windows Mixed Reality family. I am not even sure Oculus is in any way better than Odyssey. And the later does not come with its own stupid store.

27 points by Impossible 7y ago

In other news, water is wet! I doubt anyone is surprised by how important the release-shy HL franchise is, but the real tsunami will come when the thing is real and independently reviewed.

hnuser123456 7y ago
Of course, short term, the quality of the game experience is going to determine the initial response in terms of Index and VR sales, but long term, the quality of the development tools is going to be a major factor, just like with HL2 and source. If the tools are easy to use, and allow for any mildly motivated individual to create original, unique, immersive, interactive, hands-on experiences (especially co-op or pvp multiplayer), it will truly be a new era of video game creativity.

kfarr 7y ago

At $1k per headset these numbers get interesting. And only 1 month of sales. I realize low margin, it's hardware and all, but $100m in headset sales in one month? Is my math right?

anw 7y ago

The main meat of the article seems to come from https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/superdata-xr-update https://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/superdata-xr-update Which states: > Valve sold 149K Index headsets in 2019. Sales more than doubled from Q3 to Q4 (103K) thanks to anticipation for Half-Life: Alyx, which was announced in November and is slated to arrive in March. The Index sold more units than any other PC VR headset during the quarter despite a steep price of up to $1000. It would have sold even more if not for inventory issues (the device is currently sold out worldwide). It’s not hard to imagine gamers spending $1,000 USD for such a game changing (pardon the pun) piece of hardware. Being a gamer, it’s not unusual to budget $1500+ for a build, and if this is truly the future of gaming, it’s more than worth it to a lot of early adapters — especially for a new Valve game. Anecdotally, I first remember watching a friend play Half Life 2. The combination of graphics, game mechanics, and gameplay led me to save all the money I could to buy a brand new computer that could handle it. Valve doesn’t release often, but when it does it’s so far been ground breaking and a total immersion of craftsmanship.

ryuukk_ 7y ago

2 questions: - how was it in the top selling list (steam) for so long way before that - how come with such numbers it is not in that list anymore? Possibility: - they fake data in their top selling list (steam) - this data is fake to boost sales

lostmsu 7y ago

I find it surprising, that Samsung Odyssey and other VR headsets did not make top 5 list despite much lower price. That actually makes me question reliability of this data.

crocodiletears 7y ago
The kind of person who purchases a system exclusively to play an unreleased game title, especially the latest in a series in over a decade and a half, is rarely concerned about the economics of their decision, they just want the best. I've had friends with barely two pennies to run together buy new PCs, monitors, desks, and chairs on credit for little more than a slightly better play experience in anticipation of a release. I'd wager that's even more true for half-life, since its fans are likely older and more established than Steams typical "hardcore" gamer.
- lostmsu 7y ago
  I understand the uptick in Index sales because of that. But there are 4 other headsets listed, and somehow none of them are of the Windows Mixed Reality family. I am not even sure Oculus is in any way better than Odyssey. And the later does not come with its own stupid store.