Most People Can't Play Half-Life: Alyx, But Half-Life 3 Could Still Happen

Half-Life Alyx is making the internet implode, and I guess that makes enough sense, since it’s a brand new, proper Half-Life game, and while it’s not the Half-Life 3 people have been clamoring for since the explosive birth of the universe, a Half-Life 1.5 is still fantastic for these hungry fans, and a glorious return to form for Valve, who has been long absent from the actual business of making video games.

Of course, it is a VR exclusive game, which is causing problems. On Steam’s Subreddit, a user named Annsly actually found some data and found that the majority of Steam’s users aren’t ready to actually play Half-Life: Alyx. Only 50 percent of Steam’s users have graphics cards that could be called ‘functional’ for a game like this, and only 37 percent of that number have graphic cards that could be used for VR. The number of people who already have VR technology is even lower: only 1 percent of Valve’s enormous audience have a VR set that could theoretically enjoy Alyx.

Since Valve couldn’t be blind to this, it seems incredibly likely that they’re trying to use Half-Life: Alyx as a way to move VR sets. A big ask, but people have paid more for less-hyped games.

That said, if you steadfastly refuse to shell out for a VR set, you might still have something to look forward to: The Verge asked designer David Speyrer if the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx is proof that more Half-Life content is on the way, and he seemed… optimistic.
 

"It’s probably no surprise that many people at Valve have been wanting to get back to the Half-Life universe for a long time, and this experience has only reinforced that. In the process of creating Half-Life: Alyx, we’ve had to explore new ways to tell stories with these characters and this world, and we’ve discovered a lot of new gameplay experiences that go beyond what we’ve been able to do before. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see how people react to Half-Life: Alyx once it’s out, but we’d love to continue pushing forward."

 
So keep your chin up, and the memes going: Half-Life 3 could still be right around the corner.