So is the Valve Index ever going to actually ship? Like totally serious question here...

[Colonel Panic]

Like many people I put in an order a couple months ago for an Index, when it said it would ship in 8 weeks. It told me I'd get notified when it was close to being ready to ship so I could pay. I ordered my RX lenses for the Index at the same time with a 6 wk turnaround and they've been on my kitchen table for a month, past their warranty, and I haven't heard a peep about shipping expectations. I think the least Valve could do is give us some kind of update on the expected delay in shipping. I understand the pandemic is likely further complicating things, but I don't like being in the dark. Are they still even producing them at this time or is everything in the supply chain shut down? Is it gonna be a couple more weeks/months, or a year or more? I've been waiting patiently for the Index as my first VR rig that I've been excited for and saving for since last September, but if I'm never going to get it, I'd like to know so I can move on, you know? Maybe I'd settle for a Vive pro or something in the meantime... but I really just want my VR. I even renewed my iracing subscription in anticipation of finally being able to play properly, but I guess that was a waste of money....

Anyway sorry to ramble here but come on, Valve, just tell us what's going on so we can adjust our expectations accordingly.

[Ganger]

Covid-19 is the problem and has messed everything up sadly. You just need to wait it out until it comes.

[ReBoot]

I'm waiting too. The truth is, logistics is a complex topic and Covid-19 is quite the impact. Waited a while too long for my gaming PC parts as well, but now all's good

[Ganger]

Where is the VR index made, anyone know. is it made in america, china or somewhere else ?

Just wondering.

[Sazzouu]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Ganger:

Where is the VR index made, anyone know. is it made in america, china or somewhere else ?

Just wondering.

Valve has their own laboratiores and factories set in Illinois so... US apparently

[Ganger]

Diposting pertama kali oleh BeatZ #GrandPrix2.0Please:

Valve has their own laboratiores and factories set in Illinois so... US apparently

Just asking, because I know they are issues with shipping from china at the moment due to covid-19 crisis.

[J4MESOX4D]

Valve were having supply issues way before the Covid-19 situation. Demand has just been too high and communication has been terrible as ever. There's some people who've been waiting since January even.

Valve will only say something if the goods come back into stock otherwise they will happily ignore prospective customers with a grand to lay down.

[Yolanda]

I'm going on 11 weeks here... still waiting... Nothing from Valve except "You will be notified when it's ready" . I live in the US.

[kitt]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Ganger:

Covid-19 is the problem and has messed everything up sadly. You just need to wait it out until it comes.

shouln't stop companies from informing their paying Customers about what is going on with the Product.

[Mad Scientist]

You know what's going on.
Have patience.

[crunchyfrog]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Ganger:

Diposting pertama kali oleh BeatZ #GrandPrix2.0Please:

Valve has their own laboratiores and factories set in Illinois so... US apparently

Just asking, because I know they are issues with shipping from china at the moment due to covid-19 crisis.

Although the stuff is quite likely assembled in America, I would be HIGHLY surprised if some of the electronics weren't of Chinese manufacture, simply because they're by FAR the cheapest option for getting mass production of circuits - they have pick 'n' place pretty sewn up, as well as turning out custome PCBs. I've made my own circuits and had circuit boards made up to order and nobody can touch them.

So, yeah, you can all but bet that COVID-19 is the issue, and mass production from WHEREVER in the world parts come from are going to be affected.

Personally, I know small one off sets of components and so on aren't that bad atm - I've had a few things from China with no difference in timescale in recent weeks (I'm in Britain though). So your mileage might vary.

Best rule of thumb - assume while this COVID-19 thing is on, EVERYTHING stands still. Then if you do get anything, it's a nice surprise, rather than getting frustrated with bad expectations.

I ordered a new synth from Germany just before the ♥♥♥♥ hit the fan, and I immediately thought " well, that's probably buggered up production then". I got an email saying there was currently a two month wait but no extra due to coronavirus atm. And sure enough it turned up on time. I was surprised, because I just took the approacj "it'll turn up when it can".

I strongly advise you do this. It helps.

[Chewy102]

Is it right to assume Valve sends you an email when an order is ready to ship and needs payment?

Placed an order mid March myself for a Index and although I can wait for it. I simply hate waiting as every day past those 8 weeks drives me to worry. Could at least have said something by now, if nothing else a simple "♥♥♥♥ still ♥♥♥♥♥♥, sorry for the wait" would do.

[WhiteKnight]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Ganger:

Where is the VR index made, anyone know. is it made in america, china or somewhere else ?

Just wondering.

I read somewhere on resetera where a former Valve employee said they manufacture their own hardware in Factoria. Though many of the parts such has lens, motors are outsourced from China.

[wuddih]

Diposting pertama kali oleh WhiteKnight:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Ganger:

Where is the VR index made, anyone know. is it made in america, china or somewhere else ?

Just wondering.

I read somewhere on resetera where a former Valve employee said they manufacture their own hardware in Factoria. Though many of the parts such has lens, motors are outsourced from China.

Where is my package shipped from?

Steam ships all Hardware orders either from a warehouse in the United States located in Carol Stream, Illinois, or from a warehouse in the European Union located in Tilburg, the Netherlands.

the Steam controller was assembled in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

Valve certainly did not reinvent making the plastic stuff, so everything they can outsource they certainly have outsourced.

China is pretty much back to business, after 5 months or their shutdown start. so the supply chain should not be any issue since weeks. Valve itself is the issue as they limit themselves in production output, if un/willingly i let you determine but sparsity is sometimes a good self-running advertisement.

they do things like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCgnWqoP4MM
because building such a thing is fun and Valve pretty much does nothing which is not fun to work on, and they can because there are rarely deadlines.

and at the same time you can have fun at work, work on something for months and then the thing you worked on gets overrun by another project and the "company direction board" decides to lay you off.

https://www.tiltfive.com/
a good chunk of r&d for this was made at Valve, Valve went with VR instead and scrapped the AR project.

[Ganger]

Diposting pertama kali oleh WhiteKnight:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Ganger:

Where is the VR index made, anyone know. is it made in america, china or somewhere else ?

Just wondering.

I read somewhere on resetera where a former Valve employee said they manufacture their own hardware in Factoria. Though many of the parts such has lens, motors are outsourced from China.

OK, just wondering.

[Insanity Claus]

Diposting pertama kali oleh wuddih:

Diposting pertama kali oleh WhiteKnight:

I read somewhere on resetera where a former Valve employee said they manufacture their own hardware in Factoria. Though many of the parts such has lens, motors are outsourced from China.

Where is my package shipped from?

Steam ships all Hardware orders either from a warehouse in the United States located in Carol Stream, Illinois, or from a warehouse in the European Union located in Tilburg, the Netherlands.

the Steam controller was assembled in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

Valve certainly did not reinvent making the plastic stuff, so everything they can outsource they certainly have outsourced.

China is pretty much back to business, after 5 months or their shutdown start. so the supply chain should not be any issue since weeks. Valve itself is the issue as they limit themselves in production output, if un/willingly i let you determine but sparsity is sometimes a good self-running advertisement.

they do things like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCgnWqoP4MM
because building such a thing is fun and Valve pretty much does nothing which is not fun to work on, and they can because there are rarely deadlines.

and at the same time you can have fun at work, work on something for months and then the thing you worked on gets overrun by another project and the "company direction board" decides to lay you off.

https://www.tiltfive.com/
a good chunk of r&d for this was made at Valve, Valve went with VR instead and scrapped the AR project.

The backlog from those months of China's factories being shut down has likely gummed up the works and it's also likely that Valve is not a high priority customer compared to other tech giants that these factories have contractual obligations with.

I also doubt that Valve's production facility is an essential business, thus exacerbating the backlog. To my knowledge, Illinois will not begin Phase 3 of their reopening plan until May 29th, whereby non-essential manufacturing can begin, with restrictions. However, Phase 3 can be delayed further by their the governor and by the mayor if certain criteria are not met.

So, it's highly likely that no Index sets are being assembled or shipped right now and won't begin to be until May 29th, at the earliest. Even after that, things will be slow going as Valve will be required to operate their facilities with social distancing guidelines and may have temporary shutdowns for regularly scheduled sanitizing. This is IF Valve gets the okay from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Otherwise, they're not going to be operating up until Phase 4, which is June 26th at the earliest, and only if certain criteria is met.

Keep in mind that that these phases can be rolled back at any time. So, even if Valve gets the okay from the IDPH to resume operations on May 29th, Phase 3 could be rolled back to Phase 2 if there is a spike in cases. Thus, Valve would have to shut down operations again until criteria to reinstate Phase 3 are met.

To compound on all of this, add on those that used their $1,200 relief checks to buy an Index, and you have a series of compounding issues that all make the backlog worse and no way for them to currently mitigate it. Top it off with Valve's production facilities not being incredibly robust in the first place, and this just means a long wait time for orders to be fulfilled. Plus, as I noted, if Phase 3 is rescinded and they go back to Phase 2, then Valve will have to shut down their operations again for an indeterminate amount of time.

Basically, don't expect your Index set any time soon. A lot of this is out of Valve's hands and China's manufacturing backlog is the least of the pressing issues when it comes to assembling and shipping orders.

Also, the phases are similar for Washington state. For WA, Phase 2 will allow non-essential manufacturing to begin, which is not expected to begin until May 31st, at the earliest and there will be various restrictions and guidelines. So, whether Valve is building the Index in Washington or in Illinois, they're not going to be up and running until the end of May and production will likely be slowed due to various restrictions.