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Valve announces that a collection of virtual reality experiments entitled ‘The Lab’ will make their debut at GDC 2016, and will be available for free on Steam this Spring.
Valve has announced a brand new compilation of VR experiments that are collectively referred to as ‘The Lab’, all of which will be set in a pocket universe of Aperture Science. The news was announced earlier today in an official Valve press release, which confirmed that virtual reality enthusiasts will be able to return to the world of Portal no sooner than this Spring, when the experiments are released for free on the Steam platform.
The studio will debut The Lab during the Game Developers Conference 2016, which takes place this March 14-18 in San Francisco. Within The Lab, players will be able to experience “multiple ways to enjoy room-scale VR”, although nothing else has been said about the virtual reality experiments.
With so much mystery behind the announcement, there will be plenty of anticipation ahead of GDC 2016 this year, as we’re certain developers and gamers alike would love a chance to return to the world of Portal – especially via VR.
Valve also rolled out the SteamVR Performance Test last month, which is a program that gamers interested in VR can use to see if their computer has what it takes to run Vive. Much like the Oculus Rift, running VR with the Vibe is very hardware-intensive, and not everyone will be able to make the plunge without buying some significant upgrades to their gaming rigs.
The VR headset rings in at a hefty $799, but that did not stop over 15,000 VR enthusiastsfrom taking the plunge during the pre-order phase, with the first batch of units scheduled to ship out in April.
Portal wouldn’t be the only high-demand property arriving to the Vive, although it certainly would be one of the more predictable ones. Game of Thrones was rumored to have a Vive tie-inlast year, but nothing seems to have surfaced on that front. Conversely, Space exploration gameannounced it would be compatible with the Vive half a year ago, and Valve will be working to bring VR wherever it can in the coming years as they fight for their spot in the market.
In any event, The Lab will have no shortage of interested gamers when it arrives on Steam this Spring. Valve hasn’t specified the release date beyond the season itself, but more news is bound to surface once the company actually gets a chance to demonstrate the product next week. We’ll keep you posted about the long-awaited return to Aperture Laborities.
What do you think about The Lab, Ranters? Do you think the VR experiments will reveal any new facts about Aperture Laboratories?
Source: PC Gamer