14 DAY TRIAL // The development team working on the Oculus Rift virtual reality device announces that it will begin to ship the new version of the platform, destined solely for developers to use, at some point before the end of the month.
The new version of the headset is known as DK2, and all the devices have at the moment left the manufacturing facility and are heading to a number of distribution centers, according to a post on the official site of the company.
Andres Hernandez, a community manager at the Oculus Rift creators, states that “We expect to ship roughly 10,000 DK2s from the factory in July, with just over half of the units through distribution centers and on their way to doorsteps before the end of the month. The very first units are expected to reach developers the week of July 14th.”
Apparently, there are more than 45,000 pre-orders placed for DK2 at the moment, which means that some teams will have to wait until August in order to get their device.
The community manager adds, “We're slightly behind in manufacturing and there's currently a high chance that some developers with estimated shipping in July may not have their DK2s shipped until August. We have a team in China working on continued ramp of production at our factory, and we'll work our way through the queue as fast as we can.”
Earlier in the year, a surprise announcement revealed that the Oculus Rift company was being acquired by Facebook for 2 billion dollars (1.6 billion Euro) in both stock and cash.
The two companies have explained that, for the moment, the development process for the headset will focus on its gaming applications, but in the future it will also be used to give users of the social network more options when it comes to connecting with each other.
The Oculus Rift is still supposed to get access to a consumer version at some point before the end of this year, but at the moment, there are no specifications associated with the hardware and the company has not talked about the price point.
ZeniMax Media has recently launched a lawsuit against the company, alleging that its own research and investment efforts were used to create the new device, probably because of the involvement of John Carmack.
Sony is currently working on its own virtual reality solution, called Project Morpheus, which will be offered only on the PlayStation 4 home console.