Oculus Rift Consumer VR System Pre-Orders Start Later This Year, Ships Q1 2016

Oculus is ready to sell virtual reality to the public, almost 3 years after it Kickstarted its first developer kit. Today Oculus announced that “the Oculus Rift will be shipping to consumers in Q1 2016, with pre-orders later this year.”

The vaguely worded announcement (below) from the Facebook-owned company raises big questions, including whether Oculus Rift will come with everything users need be able to power the VR system, and whether Oculus is making its own games. I’ll have more answers and details later this morning when I speak onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt NY with Oculus co-founder and VP of Product Nate Mitchell.

  

Oculus planned to release the following blog post at 9am EST: 

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First Look at the Rift, Shipping Q1 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 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 gamers, developers, and industry legends to push the limits of what we believe gaming is and what it can be.

The Oculus Rift builds on the presence, immersion, and comfort 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 updated ergonomics for a more natural fit.

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.

Virtual reality is going to transform gaming, film, entertainment, communication, and much more. If you’re interested in building a next-generation VR game or application, everything you need to start developing for the Rift is available at the Oculus Developer Center (LINK: http://developer.oculus.com).

E3 is just around the corner — this is only the beginning.

— The Oculus Team

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