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Valve has unveiled details of its own virtual reality system, Valve Index.
Pre orders go live later today for “the initial, limited-quantity launch” within the U.S. and the E.U, and are expecting to begin shipping by July 1st, 2019.
The Valve Index offers dual 1440 x 1600 LCDs, full RGB per pixel, ultra-low persistence global backlight illumination (0.330ms at 144Hz), a framerate of 80/90/120/144Hz, and double element, canted lens design optics. Valve also says “you can adjust Valve Index for your head size, face angle, and ear position then fine-tune your visual experience with IPD and eye relief adjustments”.
The full Valve Index VR Kit – which includes the headset, controllers, and two base stations – will cost £919. A separate package including the headset and controllers will cost £689, while the headset alone retails for £459. The controllers and base station are available for £259 and £159 respectively.
“To enable a variety of options for those looking to upgrade their VR experience, the headset and controllers are compatible with all Steam VR games, and all the items are offered individually as well as in various combinations,” Valve added via its press release.
Valve announced its new virtual reality (VR) system in early April 2019. At the time there wasn’t much to go on – just a single image and an empty website – but early reporting had revealed the website initially included the text “May 2019”, and the website meta description tag within the page source code stated “Upgrade your Experience. May 2019”.
For the full details, or to preorder, head on over to the Valve Index digital storefront.
Valve recently laid off 13 permanent staff and “a portion” on contractor agreements from its VR team. News surfaced when former Valve employee Nat Brown announced on March 7th that he had been let go from the company on February 7th. He’d been at Valve since September 2015.
“Last month, 13 full-time employees were let go and a portion of our contractor agreements were terminated,” Valve said via an official statement. “It’s an unfortunate part of business, but does not represent any major changes at the company. We thank those affected for their contribution and wish them well in future endeavours.”
