Developer claims Valve’s VR headset is “lightyears” ahead of Oculus Rift

Valve’s VR headset device will not be sold commercially, but one developer at Iridium Studios visited the company in Seattle to try it out. In his detailed report, he claims that the peripheral is “lightyears” ahead of the original Oculus Rift device. The reason why Valve is not selling the device, is that it is using it internally to make Steam the go-to place for VR experiences, according to Iridium developer ‘Feep.’

Valve has been vocal in its support of virtual reality technology, saying that “compelling, consumer-priced VR hardware” could “transform the entertainment industry.” Valve says it has offered help to Oculus as it works on the Rift headset, but the Bellevue-based developer is also apparently working on its own virtual reality hardware. A poster on gaming super-forum NeoGAF says he was invited to see and use that prototype after it was shown to a few game developers at the recent Steam Dev Days conference. He says he was shown 15 VR demos that included a demonstration of scale so impressive that people tried to “get out their phones and take a picture,” a vignette that placed the subject on the edge of a cliff, and “a mechanical moving toddler’s face.” The prototype device, he says, is “lightyears ahead of the original Oculus Dev Kit.”