The Valve Index VR kit sold out in under 30 minutes in the US

(Image credit: Valve)

While VR never took over the gaming industry as many expected, there's clearly still quite a strong interest in it: The Valve Index VR bundle, which is priced at a cool $1,000, was completely sold out on day one of pre-orders. And according to Upload VR, the kits sold out in less than half an hour in the United States.

Granted, we don't know how many units were available in the pre-order—I've sent an email to Valve to ask, and I'll update if I hear back—but for an expensive hardware kit that's just been announced, selling out that quickly is a good indication that people are still willing to give VR a chance.

Currently you can only reserve the kit on Steam, which includes the Index headset, two controllers, and two base stations. Reserving doesn't mean you're obligated to buy it, according to the website, only that you'll receive an email when the kit is available to purchase again.

Currently, here's what I'm seeing in the US as options to reserve (not buy) the various bundles:

The Index VR kit (headset, controllers, and base stations) ships by September 30.

The headset and controllers (no base stations) ships by August 31.

Just the headset ships by July 31.

You can currently buy the Index controllers and base stations separately, and they'll be shipped by June 28. For a look at the rest of the competition, check out our best VR headset buying guide.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.