Virtual reality firm Oculus VR has announced that it would start shipping the much anticipated consumer version of its Rift headset in the first quarter of 2016.
“Since the earliest days of the Oculus Kickstarter, the Rift has been shaped by gamers, backers, developers, and enthusiasts around the world. Today, we’re incredibly excited to announce that the Oculus Rift will be shipping to consumers in Q1 2016, with pre-orders later this year,” the Oculus team noted in a blog post.
“The Rift delivers on the dream of consumer VR with compelling content, a full ecosystem, and a fully-integrated hardware/software tech stack designed specifically for virtual reality. It’s a system designed by a team of extremely passionate gamers, developers, and engineers to reimagine what gaming can be.”
Pre-orders for Rift will start later this year, Oculus said. Until now, the firm had only sold “developer” editions of the VR headset that were targeted at video games creators to make games and run tests and did not represent the Rift’s final design.
The company said the consumer version of the Rift is set to incorporate aspects of the Crescent Bay prototype, “with an improved tracking system that supports both seated and standing experiences, as well as a highly refined industrial design,” and includes “updated ergonomics for a more natural fit.”
The VR firm said it will release more details about the headset ahead of the upcoming E3 conference in June.
“In the weeks ahead, we’ll be revealing the details around hardware, software, input, and many of our unannounced made-for-VR games and experiences coming to the Rift. Next week, we’ll share more of the technical specifications here on the Oculus blog,” the blog post read.
Oculus’ launch is expected to coincide with that of HTC and Valve’s Vive which is intended to launch in time for Christmas and PlayStation’s Morpheus headset, which is slated to get released during the first six months of 2016.
Facebook purchased Oculus in a $2.3 billion (£1.3bn) deal last year.
