According to new reports that are circulating another gaming company is feeling the sting of the Coronavirus variant spreading out of China. The disease has infected more than 70,000 globally and resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths so far. That number is expected to continue increasing as the infectious nature of the virus continues to spread through airborne and fluidic contact between people.
Now, it looks as though more and more manufacturers are feeling the pressure of work stoppages over fears of becoming infected with the exceedingly deadly disease. It turns out that Valve has just announced that they expect the production of new Valve Index VR units to be delayed thanks to the virus’ spread. Speaking on the prospect of a shortage, Valve said that “we are working hard to build more units and meet the high demand,” and that was before the Valve Index sold out due to the surprise Half-Life: Alyx announcement.
“With Half-Life: Alyx coming March 23rd, we are working hard to meet demand for the Valve Index and want to reassure everyone that Index systems will be available for purchase prior to the game’s launch,” said the creators of Steam in a statement issued to UploadVR.
“However, the global Coronavirus health crisis has impacted our production schedules so we will have far fewer units for sale during the coming months compared to the volumes we originally planned. Our entire team is working hard right now to maximize availability.”
This isn’t the first time that the ongoing Wuhan Coronavirus has caused problems for the tech and gaming industry. Nintendo has been dealing with a variety of shortages within their supply chain, most notably in Nintendo Switch consoles coming out of Chinese manufacturers. And with Valve soon to be releasing Half-Life Alyx, the prospect of a shortage could be damaging to long-term plans.
Multiple other gaming events have been canceled or delayed as a result of the spread of this new disease. Chinese League of Legends and CS: GO events were already canceled. The Taipei Game Show also announced an indefinite delay over these concerns.
