Hands-on with LG's SteamVR compatible headset prototype, which seems like a strong competitor to HTC Vive
Ben Lang / Road to VR :
Context & Ripple Effects
When HTC partnered with Valve in 2015 to launch the Vive and its controllers, HTC was positioned as the sole hardware gatekeeper of Valve's SteamVR ecosystem. The Vive Pre then made the case that room-scale PC VR could be both an entertainment device and a computing interface.
Ben Lang's hands-on with LG's prototype matters because it suggests that lock is breaking: a second major manufacturer building a SteamVR-compatible headset would turn Valve's platform into something any display maker can plug into.
First-order effects
- HTC's status as the only shipping SteamVR headset vendor is directly threatened — its differentiation shifts from the platform itself to build quality, ergonomics, and bundled content.
- LG gains immediate access to SteamVR's existing library and controller ecosystem without having to build its own tracking stack or storefront.
Second-order effects
- If LG ships at scale, other consumer-electronics makers face pressure to license into SteamVR too, commoditizing the headset layer and pushing competition toward displays, weight, and price.
- Valve's leverage grows relative to HTC: with multiple vendors on its platform, Valve can set standards while HTC bears the cost of competing on hardware alone.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points toward PC VR consolidating around a shared platform standard — like Android did for phones — where headsets become interchangeable terminals and value accrues to whoever controls the software layer.
- For buyers, a multi-vendor SteamVR market would likely compress prices and accelerate iteration cycles, though whether LG moves past prototype stage remains the open question in this story.
The trend: SteamVR is evolving from an HTC-exclusive system into a licensed multi-vendor platform, shifting competition in premium PC VR from who owns the ecosystem to who builds the better headset.