Half-Life: Alyx has peaked at 42.8 thousand concurrent players, according to SteamDB, thus having already matched and slightly surpassed the results of Beat Saber. An impressive launch for a VR title.
However, as Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad points out, “the numbers are held back due to VR requirement.”
Mat Piscatella of NPD Group agrees that Valve’s decision to make Alyx a VR exclusive is a missed sales opportunity. While recognizing its innovative spirit, he argues that a project cannot hope to be groundbreaking and niche at the same time.
Half-Life: Alyx came out yesterday, March 23. This is the first game in the popular Half-Life universe in 13 years.