Oculus Rift Release Date Finally Revealed

Virtual Reality headsets could soon be coming to a home near you following the news that Oculus Rift will soon be available for the public to purchase.

Oculus has today confirmed that a consumer version of its Rift headset will go on sale sometime in the first quarter of 2016, with pre-orders starting later this year.

The company,which also revealing several images of the headset (see main image and below) says it will also reveal more details surrounding the hardware, software, input, and made-for-VR games and experiences coming to the Rift over the next few weeks, with the E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles next month getting a specific mention.

However, there’s no detail yet on price, or which markets will receive it.

Coming soon

“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,” a company blog announcing the news said. “It’s a system designed by a team of extremely passionate gamers, developers, and engineers to reimagine what gaming can be.”

Originally one of the major success stories of crowdfunding site Kickstarter, Oculus was acquired by Facebook for £1.1bn back in March 2014.

A consumer edition of Oculus Rift has been hotly anticipated ever since by many in the technology industry, and if successful, it promises an immersive VR experience far better than anything else on the market, and a huge new opportunity for developers to showcase their creativity.

Earlier this year, a Swiss developer revealed he had built a wirelessly controlled robot linked to an Oculus Rift headset, allowing the user to explore an area via two wide-angle cameras.

Know all about start-ups? Take our quiz!