Half-Life: Alyx and The $1,000 VR Bundle
I love Valve. We all love Valve. But this is a bundle, right?
Valve has basically used a beloved franchise to sell hardware at a premium price. And they executed this so skillfully that every game media organization is praising Half-Life: Alyx and saying jack about the $1,000 VR Bundle aka the Valve Index or other similarly priced VR hardware that is required to play Half-Life: Alyx.
Do not get me wrong, Valve can do whatever they want to legally make money, but when other game companies bundle their games with expensive add-ons the entire gaming community (especially the PC gaming community) screams bloody murder.
Electronic Arts and other developers are probably quarantined at home amazed of this skillful finesse by Valve, because when they include micro-transactions or require additional monetizations there are numerous YouTube videos and articles labeling them as greedy, soulless cretins.
But when the beloved Valve and their billionaire owner does it, then not a word. Nope, when Saint Gabe does it, it is a ok.
The gaming community treats Valve like they are a non-profit that make products for mankind’s salvation, and not what they and all gaming companies are, capitalists.