REPORT: Half-Life: Alyx Could Soon Be Playable Without VR, Says Valve

Half-Life: Alyx is currently only playable with a virtual reality headset; however, things could change sooner rather than later.

According to Valve’s video game designer Robin Walker, who was involved in the development of the game and other Half-Life series, he expects someone to modify Half-Life: Alyx and makes it playable on PC with just the standard set of a screen, monitor and mouse.

However, in his interview with Polygon, he emphasized that gamers should not expect too much in such a version of the game. Should a modded Half-Life: Alyx appear, Walker highlighted that it wouldn’t bring the same experience as the original release.

“The answer to this diverges significantly depending on which members of the team you talk to, so this answer is definitely just from me,” Walker explained when asked if someone from the team about the game potentially being modified without the VR headset.

“There are a set of people on the team that are concerned about that. Personally, I’m not concerned about it at all. The reason is pretty simple: The game just wouldn’t be much fun as a standard release.”

Walker furthered that the modded version will “clearly demonstrate” why they did the game in VR. In fact, he is confident that Half-Life: Alyx without the VR headset that he went as far as to say that it would only be a learning experience for them should people say that a modified game is as good as the original.

The Australian game designer – who is also best known for his works in Quake Team Fortress and Counter-Strike – said he doesn’t encourage people to do the mod. However, he acknowledged that it is definitely “going to happen” no matter what he says.

With that in mind, his only message for gamers is that they will understand why they opted to release the game in VR.

“Yes, it’s going to happen. I’m fine with it, for the sake of the other members of the team I don’t want to say I encourage you to do it, but it’s going to happen,” Walker added. “I think people will then hopefully have an even greater understanding of why we decided to build the product in VR than they do now.”

Half-Life: Alyx has been a massive success since its release last Monday, March 23. It has been widely praised for its use of VR, with some publications even saying that it is the best virtual reality game out in the market so far.