The Steam Frame’s biggest problem is (ironically) Half-Life: Alyx, and Valve needs to recapture the VR magic

It's been six years since the release of Half Life: Alyx, and to this day, there's not much that reaches the heights of Valve's VR masterpiece. And ironically, that's looking to be quite the problem for the upcoming Steam Frame — for now.

From its highly immersive atmosphere that drops you right into the fascinating yet terrifying City 17 under Combine occupation, to the iconic gameplay that I could easily spend hours messing around with just catching glass bottles and more with the Gravity Gloves (or "Russells," of course), and that's just scratching the surface. Half-Life: Alyx not only hit an all-time high for VR gaming, it's an achievement for gaming as a whole.

Don't just take it from me though. At the time, it got the highest marks across the board on multiple sites, now sitting at a very strong 93 on Metacritic, and even in 2022, it was still one of the top-selling VR games on Steam. That's no easy feat, but even today, over half a decade later, it's still considered the pinnacle of PC VR gaming.

So, the good news? It continues to be the best VR experience I've had. The bad? It's (sort of) ruined every other VR title. The ugly? The industry has had a long time to catch up now, and it's still hard to beat. Don't get me wrong; there have been several hits like Batman: Arkham Shadow, Asgard's Wrath 2 and even the recent Arken Age, but none quite to the level of Alyx.

This poses a problem for Valve's next VR headset. The Steam Frame is set to drop in early 2026, but there's no blockbuster follow-up in sight. As we've learned, a gaming device can thrive or die depending on its pool of games, but in this case, Valve also has a high bar to reach to see its Steam Frame soar.

The need for blockbuster VR gaming

The Steam Frame is already set to take over VR this year, with features like its Foveated Streaming for optimized image quality, lag-free wireless streaming straight from a PC thanks to a 6GHz wireless adapter and the ability to play both VR and non-VR games from your Steam library.

Exciting stuff, but are there any upcoming, sure-fire games to take advantage of the VR headset's capabilities and reel in a wider audience? There isn't a peep from Valve (yet). I know, there's a lot of talk of the near-mythical Half-Life 3 being a launch hit for the highly anticipated Steam Machine, but I can hardly imagine this being a VR exclusive if it actually arrives (despite Half-Life: Alyx setting this up quite nicely).

Sure, Alyx is far from the only PC VR game to make it big. Head on over to SteamDB's most played VR games right now, and you'll find titles like Blade & Sorcery, Bonelab, Skyrim VR and more. Interestingly, though, a majority of these titles aren't VR exclusives.

Many of the most-played titles are VR versions of popular PC games, from Sons of the Forest and Phasmophobia to Hitman: World of Assassination and Subnautica. There's even Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Village (that's for the PSVR 2), which don't have an official VR mode on PC, but well-built mods change that.

That's a fantastic array of games to try out, especially for newcomers grabbing a Steam Frame, but these are titles you can already play with a Meta Quest 3 and a good USB-C link cable connecting to a PC. I don't know about you, but seeing a "fresh" slate of VR titles hit the store will surely be a winning way to stoke the fire for Valve's VR headset.

But then the "Half-Life: Alyx problem" swings back around. Thanks to Valve's accomplishment, we've seen how absurdly good VR gaming can get, and that's a hard feat to top. But for a new VR headset from Valve itself in 2026, it's only fitting we see more games of the like, or how much further virtual reality can be pushed.

Valve hasn't exactly shot itself in the foot by making Alyx such an amazing experience, but those who've played it now know what developers are capable of, and a continuation of this standard can turn VR gaming from more of a niche gimmick into a force to be reckoned with.

Third-party help

Over on Valve's Steam Frame listing page, one of the first videos you'll see is someone putting on the VR headset and stepping into Half-Life: Alyx. Despite coming out in 2020, Valve is still proud to show off that this is a must-play title for its upcoming headset. But it also shows there's not much else that's coming.

I mean, it's not like the successful Steam Deck had games made for it, but considering Valve has made a VR game tells a different story. Perhaps more high-level titles are on the way, seeing as there is a developer kit.

These have been given out to developers well before the launch of the Steam Frame to test and optimize their games on the Steam store, making sure they're ready and "Steam Frame Verified." But more importantly, it also gives them a chance to create a game made specifically for Valve's headset.

Of course, there's no telling if anything is in the works as of now, or even if there is an upcoming VR game from Valve itself. But it's at least a good sign that we'll see more blockbuster VR titles made for Steam — and, hopefully, for the headset itself.

With Meta shutting down several of its first-party gaming studios, including Armature Studio (behind Resident Evil 4 VR), Twisted Pixel (making the recent Marvel's Deadpool VR) and Sanzaru Games (developing Asgard's Wrath), we're seeing more potential AAA VR games being scrapped. Reportedly, that includes a now-canceled Batman: Arkham Shadows sequel and even a Harry Potter VR title.

Having this in mind, the state of VR gaming is already in shaky territory, so seeing another Alyx hit the scene will breathe much-needed new life — something the Steam Frame will have to contend with.

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