Based on data-mined code, Valve appears to be preparing a promotion that will give buyers of its upcoming Steam Frame VR headset a free copy of Half-Life: Alyx. You may remember that the same incentive was offered to customers who purchased the Valve Index (the company’s previous VR headset) or its controllers.

Half-Life: Alyx was released back in March 2020, about 9 months after the Valve Index, but it remains one of the go-to VR experiences on the market and is widely viewed as a benchmark for AAA VR gaming. Data miners have spotted ‘HLAlyxPromoButtons’ within Steam code, suggesting Valve will bundle Half-Life: Alyx for free with your new Steam Frame.

Half-Life Alyx might come free with the Steam Frame

Thanks to information shared by reliable leaker Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradey), references to ‘HLAlyxPromoButtons’ seem to all but confirm a promotion with the Steam Frame. It’s also worth pointing out that Valve previously made comments about making Half-Life: Alyx playable standalone on the Frame, running on its ARM64-based Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.

Considering the same offer was available with the Valve Index, even if you just bought one of the standalone controllers, it seems likely Valve will be doing the same for the Steam Frame. We cannot be certain just yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised. Unboxing videos for the Steam Frame were recently leaked, but we cannot confirm Valve’s product launch strategy.

We still don’t know the price of the upcoming “streaming-first, wireless VR headset,” but a premium price tag is expected due to rising component costs, which already affected the Steam Machine launch just over two months ago. Previous rumors suggest it might cost significantly more than the Valve Index due to inflated RAM and flash storage prices.

Half-Life: Alyx is regularly discounted on Steam. According to data from SteamDB, the VR title has dropped from $59.99 to $14.99 in two previous Steam sales this year, most recently during the annual Summer Sale.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.