Like many of you, I, too, wished this year for an escape from reality. Virtual reality proved to be one such way to get outside, abroad, or even for a moment outside the confines of my home, whether it be piloting TIE fighters in "Star Wars: Squadrons" or fighting the Combine in "Half-Life: Piloting TIE fighters in "Alyx", fighting combats in "Half-Life: Alyx", or clutching a flashlight and risking your life in "Phasmophobia".

One of the main reasons for this is the sheer quantity and quality of VR headsets available today that connect to our gaming PCs and transport us into virtual worlds; new VR headsets will follow in the footsteps of the Valve Index in 2020. But there is at least one new challenger for the tethered VR throne in 2020: the HTC Vive Cosmos Elite.

The staggered arrival of the HP Reverb G2 at the end of this year also made it into this year's title contender, but since it was only available to those who pre-ordered it in November and there is little information about its general release, we have not included it in this year's title contention The HP Reverb G2 still seems to be somewhere between pre-order release and a full-blown general release. Similarly, Pimax released the 5K Super just before the public. This shows just how diverse the VR headset market is these days.

Speaking of Oculus, the Oculus Quest 2 was also introduced this year. Starting at $299, it is the most affordable of the bunch, even more so if you subtract the need for a powerful PC with a VR-capable graphics card; while not the usual product to consider with PC Gamer, the Oculus Link feature introduced with the first Quest headset in 2019 turns the Quest 2 into a thoroughly decent tethered headset with just a single USB Type-C cable.

We'll know the winner on New Year's Eve. It's a fitting day to say goodbye to the hardware we've enjoyed over the past year and look forward to what awaits us next year. Next year, CES 2021 will take place virtually, opening on January 11, 2021.

Expect to see even more compelling virtual reality headsets and accessories at this show.