Oculus Rift News: Valve Will Support Games Using Headset After Release Date

The Oculus Rift is one of the most exciting innovations in gaming, and the virtual reality headset is one of the most exciting pieces of technology that is coming to the video game industry. The VR headset may be a bigger piece of technology than the recently released PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and different companies are working on creating their own versions of the virtual reality headset. While it was widely reported that Valve, the company behind Steam and the upcoming Steam Machines, was prototyping their own VR headset, but now it appears those plans have been dropped in favor of supporting the Oculus Rift.

Valve announced at the Steam Dev Days conference that IGN attended that, despite rumors to the contrary; the company will not be putting out their own virtual reality technology and will instead focus on supporting the Oculus Rift on Steam. It is possible that Valve could eventually make their own VR headset, but in the near future it looks as though the company is throwing their weight behind Oculus Rift instead. Valve also stated that they believe that the PC will be the hotbed of virtual reality gaming and that the company expects commercial viable virtual reality gaming within two years.

Some gamers may be shock to learn that Valve is giving up their own virtual reality program; however the company may have had problems developing the technology that prevented them from continuing forward with the program. Specifically, Valve consulted with Oculus Rift to develop head tracking technology for the Valve virtual reality headset, so it looked as though that company was far behind Oculus Rift when it came to the technology. In addition, with the company focused on the Steam Machines program and fine tuning Steam OS and the Steam controller there may not have been time to devote to their virtual reality headset.

Oculus Rift is one of the most successful Kickstarter projects in the website's history, as the company managed to raise millions of dollars through fan donations. The company rewarded these early backers with the promise of receiving the headset first, and at CES 2014 the company revealed a new prototype model of the headset along with new demos of games that already are compatible with the device.
Look out for more news about Valve and the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset as the headset gears up for a commercial launch and Valve prepares for the Steam Machines launch.