The impact of the coronavirus is being felt in a number of ways. Most significantly there are the people who are suffering from the illness that has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people at the time of writing. However, the trickle-down effect of the outbreak has meant many factories have been closed and events cancelled, with authorities and companies looking to limit the spread of the outbreak and reduce large gatherings of people where the disease can spread.
In the video game industry, we've seen lots of esports events cancelled already, as well as companies withdrawing from public events, but we're also starting to see the production of a number of products being impacted by both staffing issues and component scarcity. The latest major company affected is Valve, which has confirmed in a press release sent to UploadVR that it will have "far fewer" Index headsets to sell in the coming months:
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. 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. To receive a notification as soon as the Valve Index is back in stock, please visit Steam and click "Notify Me."
Valve starts off by mentioning Half-Life: Alyx and that's because the Index headset has been in huge demand since the company announced the first proper Half-Life game in more than a decade. Alyx will support other PC headsets, but the Index has some optional extras that you simply won't get on competing VR platforms, and fans eager for the full experience may well have to wait until production is back up and running before they get to battle the Combine once again.