While the joke of a new Half-Life game has been prevalent on the internet for over a decade, the fantasies of returning to the world of Gordon Freeman and company are finally becoming a reality with the long-awaited reveal of the franchise's next entry. As Valve detailed earlier this week, Half-Life: Alyx will finally bring players back to the franchise early next year through the window of VR, and you can now start preparing your rig (and VR headset) for its debut.

Following the reveal of Half-Life: Alyx earlier this week by Valve, the official system requirements for the VR title have also been detailed through the Steam store page for the game. You can find the minimum system requirements for Half-Life: Alyx below from Valve:

  • OS: Windows 10
  • Processor: Core i5-7500 / Ryzen 5 1600
  • Memory: 12 GB RAM
  • Graphics: GTX 1060 / RX 580 - 6GB VRAM

With these specs being listed as the minimum system requirements for Half-Life: Alyx, it's already not too surprising to see that the long-awaited next entry in the Half-Life series will be a pretty demanding experience for a lot of PCs on a technical level. As noted by Polygon, these specs are already exceeding the minimum specs needed for the Valve Index, and roughly in line with the recommended specs for that particular VR headset, which you can find below:

Minimum

  • OS: Windows 10, SteamOS, Linux
  • Processor: Dual Core with Hyper-Threading
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 / AMD RX480
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Additional Notes: Available DisplayPort (Version1.2) and USB (2.0+) Port required

Recommended

  • Processor: Quad Core+
  • Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 or better
  • Additional Notes: Available USB (3.0+) Port required for Headset Pass-Through Camera

However, with Half-Life: Alyx being available on other VR systems and platforms other than the Valve Index, there is at least some decent wiggle room to experiment with settings and hardware. However, from the information that Valve has provided, it's clear that Alyx is going to be a pretty technically-demanding experience for most PC rigs, let alone for a VR release, which might make it wise to start considering upgrading if you want to experience the series' return this spring.

That being said, from what we've seen from the game already this week, through its stunning reveal trailer and a series of gorgeous screenshots, I'm incredibly excited to see how Valve makes its return to the world of Half-Life through the lens of virtual reality.

Half-Life: Alyx will be releasing in March 2020, and will be available for Valve Index, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and other assorted VR platforms when it arrives.