HTC and Valve’s own Virtual Reality headset was meant to hit a limited commercial release this year. Last month in fact. November has come and gone, and the Vive VR headset is still nowhere to be seen. Well, you won’t be seeing it this year at all. You won’t even be seeing it in the first quarter of next year.
Those of you waiting to jump in to Valve’s VR set-up (which, I’m told, is mighty impressive, even giving the Oculus Rift a run for its money) will have to wait until April 2016.
HTC seems to suggest that the delay isn’t because of manufacturing issues or anything of that ilk, but rather that they’ve just been so darned busy touring.
“Since announcing the HTC Vive in March of this year we have focused on developing immersive content, refining both hardware design and user experience, and building relationships with new partners both inside and outside of the gaming industry,” HTC stated on Facebook.
“In collaboration with Valve, we have been distributing the HTC Vive Developer Kits to developers and content creators, and are continuing to work with many other innovative companies to create content that spans gaming, entertainment, medical, education and retail. This includes hosting a developer conference in Beijing on December 18th, launching the second generation of the HTC Vive Developer Kit at CES and engaging audiences at key events including The Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, GDC and MWC while expanding our demo tours.”
So instead of a release this year, they’re pushing out more SDK’s, and will release the unit commercially in April 2016.
“We will be starting the new year by making an additional 7000 units available to developers, followed by commercial availability in April 2016.”
The PlayStation VR is set to be released at around the same time. Oculus’ Rift still has no release date or price.
Is anyone really, really surprised the headset’s been delayed?
Last Updated: December 9, 2015
Alien Emperor Trevor
December 9, 2015 at 10:05
I’m not surprised it’s being released on 1 April 2016.
Hammersteyn
December 9, 2015 at 10:21
Just like Half life 3
The Grand Admiral Chief
December 9, 2015 at 10:43
Dammit Butterman!
The Grand Admiral Chief
December 9, 2015 at 10:13
MANTIS SHRIMP!
Kromas untamed
December 9, 2015 at 10:35
I was not happy when I received the news. I already have both Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen fully updated and ready for the Vives release. Seems my xmas will be more wow/fallout/starcraft.
Captain JJ 4x
December 9, 2015 at 10:56
I think the Valve one is going to be pretty cool.