Valve enables gamers to play non-VR games on the HTC Vive

Valve just announced that it has launched an early beta test for the SteamVR Desktop Theater Mode, which enables gamers to play non-virtual-reality games with VR systems.

The new mode will work with the upcoming HTC Vive virtual reality headset, and it will be shown off at next week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. VR is expected to become a $30 billion market by 2020, according to tech advisor Digi-Capital. And GDC will be full of VR companies trying to win over hearts and minds.

We haven’t seen this mode yet, but it looks like a way to provide more content on VR systems in their early days, when there isn’t that many dedicated VR games available yet. It’s not likely to cause anyone to buy a new VR system, I would guess. But it could give people something to do in VR while they’re waiting for more content.