The HTC Vive Cosmos Elite comes with a special surprise (hint: Half-Life)

HTC Vive Cosmos Elite Package
HTC Vive Cosmos Elite Package (Image credit: HTC)

What you need to know

  • Every Vive Cosmos Elite comes with a free copy of Half-Life: Alyx right in the box.
  • The Vive Cosmos Elite retails for $899 and can be upgraded to wirelessly connect to your PC.
  • The Vive Cosmos Elite package is available for purchase right now from HTC and retailers like Amazon.

Today is delivery day for all HTC Vive Cosmos Elite pre-orders, and the lucky recipients are about to find a pre-order bonus inside the box that was previously unannounced. For a limited time, all HTC Vive Cosmos Elite units are shipping with a free copy of Half-Life: Alyx, 2020's seminal VR title. Inside every Vive Cosmos Elite box is a Steam redemption code for Half-Life: Alyx that can be added to your Steam account.

The HTC Vive Cosmos Elite retails for $899 and is the top-tier package offered by HTC for their latest-generation PC VR HMDs (head-mounted displays). While $899 is a pretty penny to pay just to receive Half-Life: Alyx (which can be pre-ordered on Steam for $53.99), it's a wonderful bonus to be included with any product as expensive as the Vive Cosmos Elite. To date, the only other headset that ships with a free copy of Half-Life: Alyx is the Valve Index, which makes sense since it's Valve's own HMD.

Half-Life: Alyx: Everything you need to know

The HTC Vive Cosmos Elite is set apart from the rest of the Vive Cosmos family because of the inclusion of SteamVR-tracked controllers and a SteamVR-tracked headset. Each Vive Cosmos unit ships with the same base headset, with the difference residing in the modular snap-in up front and the included controllers. The Vive Cosmos Elite full package also includes SteamVR lighthouses, which are the same units that shipped with the now-discontinued HTC Vive and HTC Vive Pro.

The entire HTC Vive line remains the only viable option for folks looking at a wireless higher-end PC-powered VR solution. The very same HTC Vive Wireless Adapter that works with the original HTC Vive and the HTC Vive Pro also works with the entire HTC Vive Cosmos line of headsets. The Vive Cosmos also features a more comfortable headset design when compared with the original HTC Vive, a flip-up front for easy transitioning into and out of the VR world, and the ability to use HTC's Netflix-like VR subscription service, Viveport.

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Nicholas Sutrich

Nick started with DOS and NES and uses those fond memories of floppy disks and cartridges to fuel his opinions on modern tech. Whether it's VR, smart home gadgets, or something else that beeps and boops, he's been writing about it since 2011. Reach him on Twitter or Instagram @Gwanatu