In February, Valve co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell revealed during a round-table discussion that the revered studio behind videogames like Half-Life, Portal and virtual reality (VR) experience The Lab, was working on three more VR titles, each of which was going to be a proper videogame rather than a tech demo or experiment. The notorious secretive company has stayed quiet since then, revealing no more about these projects. Thankfully, HTC Vive has recently confirmed work is still ongoing whilst still staying tight lipped on further details.
When asked about the titles in an interview with Glixel, Dan O’Brien, Vive general manager for the Americas told the site: “I manage the relationship with Valve. I meet with Valve weekly to talk about everything from what’s happening on new content launching to new product launches to new features and new functions. They are very committed; they are still committed to delivering on that promise.”
When pressed on what type of videogames they could be, whether they were original IP’s or based on previous franchises (a Half-Life VR title might help sell a few headsets) O’Brien simply said “I can’t comment.”
While Valve has stayed quiet on the software side of things it’s been slightly more open this year about its hardware advancements for VR. June saw the company release details on its Knuckles controllers, then in October Valve announced work on custom lenses that are compatible with both LCD and OLED display technologies.
On the in-house software side fledgling developer Vive Studios has been far more consistent with its projects, releasing Arcade Saga first then Front Defense Super Puzzle Galaxy and during the summer. Most recently the studio unveiled Front Defense: Heroes, being made in conjunction with 2 Bears Studio’s and Fantahorn Studios respectively.
Naturally, Vive Studios’ focus is on HTC Vive titles, yet Joel Breton, vice president of content for Global HTC Vive and head of Vive Studios mentions PlayStation VR, and that they’ll “likely publish some content there.” Going on to say: “We want to build a viable business in VR. Exclusives are clearly not a good business model at this stage.”
VRFocus will continue its coverage of HTC Vive, Vive Studios and Valve, keeping you up to date with the latest news.
via Mint VR