Oculus isn’t the only VR company with some high-profile departures right now; Chet Faliszek is leaving Valve, the creator of the SteamVR platform.
Faliszek confirmed as much over on GamesIndustry.biz, having spent the past 12 years at the developer of games like Half-Life and Portal, which he helped write various installments of.
Though his employment pre-dates Valve’s work in VR by some way, for the past few years Faliszek has been working on the SteamVR team, and become one of its most recongizable faces. Those in the industry will know that if you’re heading to a major event there’s a good chance he’ll be there to meet developers, help them get started in VR, and offer advice for building content.
Though his departure may be sudden, Faliszek insisted that there were no hard feelings between himself and Valve, reassuring that it was “Nothing exciting or drama filled.” The developer was simply in search of a change.
“I worked there 12 years, shipped a bunch of great games and some amazing hardware and wanted to change things up,” he said. “There’s no news on what’s next etc, I will let you know when that happens.”
Given his passion for VR we’d hope that Faliszek’s next role will remain within the industry. As for who might replace his role at Valve? No news yet but we’ve reached out to the company to ask.
Even without Faliszek, there’s plenty to look forward to from Valve and the future of VR. The team is currently working on the next iteration of its lighthouse tracking technology and also has three full VR games in development.
