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The Steam Summer Sale kicks off with a tempting discount on HTC Vive headset

Jayce Wagner
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HTC Vive Deluxe Audio Strap
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Usually, the Steam Summer Sale means you’ll be picking up a bunch of half-priced games to fill up your already overflowing backlog. This year, however, Steam is upping the ante by offering a discount on the HTC Vive. Yep, the $800 VR headset.

The HTC Vive is now available on the Steam store for $750. That might not sound like a huge discount, but buyers will also receive a $50 Steam credit. So, if you were planning on spending at least $50 on Steam games and have an extra $750 lying around, this is a good deal. Plus, it comes bundled with Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Richie’s Plank Experience, and Everest VR, along with a free month of HTC’s Viveport subscription service.

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The HTC Vive headset has met with some serious competition from the Oculus Rift now that both platforms have their own touch controllers, but the Vive remains at the top of its game. According to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, the HTC Vive is outselling the Oculus Rift 2-to-1, and this sale could push those numbers even higher.

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There are still some massive barriers to entry for most users, who will need a powerful PC to get the most out of the HTC Vive — plus a bunch of extra space to take advantage of the Vive’s room-scale VR experiences. Those barriers aren’t as high as they used to be, as PC manufacturers turn out more affordable VR ready laptops, desktops, and even backpacks.

More affordable hardware, coupled with a growing catalog of games, including some high-profile entries like Star Trek: Bridge Crew, are making consumer VR more enticing and accessible than ever.

It’s with that in mind that the Steam Summer Sale also includes a number of popular VR games at a discount alongside the HTC Vive hardware.

The marked-down games up for grabs include Vive Studios titles. They include Virtual Sports, Arcade Saga, Remembering Pearl Harbor, Knockout League, and Make VR.

So if you’ve been on the fence about VR, now would be a great time to get in on the action, but hurry up — the sale ends at 10 a.m. PT on July 5.

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Jayce Wagner
Jayce Wagner
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.
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