Valve is stepping up its hardware game as the release date for Steam Machines draws nearer. The company’s latest move is to release a developer kit for the HTC Valve headset to select developers. This first wave includes a wide range of developers, including major movie studios, independent game developers, and big triple A game developers.
The HTC Vive was one of the big surprises at MWC 2015, and announced with no prior indication that HTC was even working on a VR headset. Of course, it looks like most of the development was done by Valve, which would explain why it is the video game developer that is handling the shipping and distribution of the development kits and not HTC.
Each box includes a headset, two Lighthouse base stations, two wireless Steam VR controllers, various cables, instructions, and everything else needed to get started. This probably means that Valve intends for the HTC Vive to be targeted at the Steam Machines due out later this year. At least the blog post announcing the shipping of the VR headset seems to indicate this.
For the rest of us, there is still a long wait before the HTC Vive is released for consumers. Valve has been known to delay devices to get them right, and only time will tell if the company will meet its launch target. That being said, it is still likely to arrive before the Oculus Rift – which is due late next year.
[Source: Steam Community]
