At GDC 2017 last year, LG made the surprise introduction of a SteamVR headset boasting high resolution displays and an interesting ergonomic design. After HTC’s Vive, It would be the first SteamVR headset introduced by a major company and also making use of SteamVR Tracking. Having heard almost nothing since that initial introduction, many hoped that GDC 2018 would see the first glimpse of an update on the status of the headset. Alas, the company has confirmed they aren’t present at GDC.

LG’s unnamed SteamVR headset generated buzz at the time of its introduction. Not only would those in the SteamVR ecosystem have a new choice of headset, but it would also inject serious competition into the headset marketplace, as LG’s SteamVR headset showed off some improved ergonomics including a flip-up display and halo-style head strap for improved weight distribution. LG’s prototype headset also included a pair of redesigned SteamVR motion controllers, and a higher resolution display, bumping past the Vive’s 1,080×1,200 per eye resolution to 1,440×1,280 per eye resolution.

LG has so far remained mum on its Steam VR headset since GDC 2017, and one year later, that’s still the status quo. When we reached out to the company an LG spokesperson confirmed to Road to VR, “LG will not be present at GDC this year.”

Check out our hands-on with LG’s headset to see what we’ll be missing out on. We have boots on the ground at this year’s GDC, so make sure to follow us this week as we search out all things VR/AR.

Additional reporting by Scott Hayden

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Cdaked

    It’s logical that they don’t say anything until May 22, if they really announce their new displays with Google.

    • David Herrington

      I agree, but hopefully we will hear whether their HMD will be utilizing their new display before May 22.

    • brandon9271

      This LG HMD is the one I’m most excited about. Especially now that the Vive Pro is confirmed at the RIDICULOUS price of $799! We need an alternative to the overpriced Vive. I’m also hoping that LG goes with non-fresnel optics as they had discussed before. God rays are a deal breaker and at a premium price point of the Vive Pro I think it’s completely unacceptable.

      • Danielle

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      • Andrew Jakobs

        The Vive Pro isn’t at a ridiculous price, it’s not meant for consumers, when do people like you get that into your head? the business edition of the regular vive is also almost twice the price…
        But I agree, I do hope LG will use non-fresnel optics.

        • Jean-Sebastien Perron

          There are no games made of Vive since Oculus Touch arrival and Mixed Reality. Can’t play proper with PSVR sticks imitations.

          • Andrew Jakobs

            Again, the vive pro isn’t meant for consumers… I agree, the vive controllers aren’t the best anymore, but still a lot of games on steam don’t support the touch/mr controllers natively, it’s mostly still the vive controllers they developed for.

          • brandon9271

            When you consider that the Samsung Odyssey sold for $399 with the exact same OLED displays as the Vive Pro and came with controllers I’d says it’s a ridiculous price. Where’s the value in the Vive Pro? Other than the word “pro” and a ridiculous price what makes it not for consumers?

          • Andrew Jakobs

            support? amount of units they can produce? The propably have a large amount of regular Vive’s still in their warehouses and they also need to be sold. And maybe they can’t get their hands on that many panels for their Pro version, which also means they cannot produce so many headset, so why set at a low price if you know ‘professionals’ will buy them anyway at the higher price. Let’s not forget, the Samsung Odyssey has it’s problems too, and therefore might it not be a perfect headset for business related things..

          • Alexisms

            Who do you mean by ‘professionals’ that you keep banging on about over multiple threads?

          • daveinpublic

            Doesn’t ‘pro’ usually mean it has pro features? Not just a ‘pro’ price?

          • Andrew Jakobs

            well compared to the standard vive it does have ‘pro’ features..

        • Agree completely with you. The only thing I want to add is that this Pro has not a business license included

  • Lou

    now that they stopped working on oled display for phones it’s probably dead

  • Released today, this headset won’t have much sense IMHO. The controllers are already old and the resolution is not that impressive compared to the Odyssey for instance