Oculus Rift consumer launch confirmed for Q1 2016, pre-sale later this year

The folks at Oculus Rift have confirmed a final shipping window for the consumer edition of their virtual reality headset. It’ll be out at some point in Q1 2016, with pre-sales for the device commencing this Wednesday, they’ve announced.

With that, the company released some final renders of what the consumer product will look like once it touches ground next year. You’ll find that it’s a refined version of the Crescent Bay prototype that they’ve been worked on largely throughout its entire development, which is great considering that design was already pretty slick.

Developers have had their hands dipped in the Oculus Rift SDK for quite some time now, and the company has assured us that the earliest efforts will be showcased at their big E3 showing next month.

While other companies have already started introducing viable virtual reality solutions — either through the use of smartphone-augmented units like the Samsung Gear VR or standalone goodness such as HTC’s Re Vive — but Oculus Rift still seems poised to present one of the most ambitious consumer-ready virtual reality experiences to date. We’ll have to wait until June to find out what, exactly, they’re looking to do to make that happen.

[via Oculus Rift]

Here’s where to watch today’s Oculus Rift announcement live online at 1PM Eastern

Oculus Rift is making a big announcement today, and you guessed it: it’s being live-streamed. It’s all going down at 1PM Eastern, and we expect to hear details about the consumer launch of the virtual reality headset, including possible pricing, release date, a new name and — of course — a look at the final design they’ll be going with for its life on store shelves.

That its launch is being streamed on Twitch also suggests we’ll be in store for some new gameplay demos. Recent rumors suggest Oculus Rift will look somewhat similar to the latest Crescent Bay prototype that developers have been using to whip up their content.

A leak from the company’s own website seemingly contradicted that, though Oculus Rift noted that the devices spotted in the images on their website were “ancient” placeholder renders. Whether that’s just a convenient excuse to throw us off the trail remains to be seen, but we suppose the point is moot considering there are only a couple of short hours before all the details are spilled. Be sure to use the Twitch embed above to follow along once 1PM arrives.

Oculus Rift official release window and details announced

Oculus Rift has just announced details for the consumer launch of their virtual reality headset. This is poised to become a benchmark product by which others are measured, and with Facebook’s backing we’re sure to see very interesting and significant developments down the line.

So when’s it coming? For how much? Will it help me survive the apocalypse? Fret not, because the answers are in. Here’s what we know so far:

• There will be a simple, sleek desktop sensor that doesn’t require anything but a USB connection to a PC.


• The release date for the Oculus Rift is scheduled to happen in Q1 2016.


• The integrated headphones are user removable.


• Oculus Rift will have a dial for adjusting lens focal distance.


• The headset’s design has been updated to better accommodate glasses.


• Oculus Rift will come pre-packaged with a wireless Xbox One controller.


• You will be able to stream Xbox One games to your Windows PC to play in Oculus Rift.


• Oculus is pledging million to help independent developers create games for Oculus Rift.


• Oculus Home will be a fully 3D VR-enabled user interface to buy and play all your games.


• Oculus Touch is a new input option that’ll allow you to control your games with your hands instead of a traditional controller. It supports gestures, hand presence and object manipulation in the game world.

We also get a first look at some of the launch games that will natively support Oculus Rift. One was an insane space combat action title called EVE Valkyrie (which, for what it’s worth, is also headed for the PlayStation 4 and Sony’s Project Morpheus headset). You can check out a quick trailer of it in action right here:

Other games announced for Oculus Rift include an exclusive third-party Insomniac title named Edge of Nowhere, as well as an interesting action RPG titled Chronos.

Damaged Core, VR Sports Challenge, Esper, AirMech VR and Lucky’s Tale are all slated to be on Oculus Rift in 2016, and available to try out for anyone attending E3 as soon as next week..

Unfortunately the details stop there, which means we still don’t have an exact release date, nor do we know how much it’ll hit our wallets for once it arrives. E3 is next week so we’ll be on the lookout for more details then. Otherwise, it looks like we’ll have to wait until we’re closer to that Q1 2016 launch window to be let in on more.