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 new version will support but seated and standing VR experiences.
Nate Mitchell said that buyers will require a gaming PC to power the Oculus Rift. He also confirmed that Oculus has several small small gaming studios producing first-party games for the Rift. Pre-orders will likely happen on Oculus.com, but Mitchell said retail will be important to the company, hinting at trial stations at big box retailers.
Interestingly, Oculus refers to itself as “a fully-integrated hardware/software tech stack designed specifically for virtual reality”. There’s no mention of a third-party computer necessary to power the Rift, which previous Oculus developer kits required.
The Oculus blog post also mentions that “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.”
While Oculus revealed its making cinema experiences with its Story Studio, it has yet to publicly say it’s making its own games. The ones noted in the announcement could be built by third-parties, but Oculus might want to ensure some enticing games are available on the Rift the day it ships.
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