Oculus Rift will launch in early 2016, and this is what it looks like

Oculus Rift
Oculus Rift

It's the news many of us have been waiting for: the consumer version of the Oculus Rift until the first quarter of 2016, with pre-orders kicking off later this year.

It's a little later than we had anticipated, with many of us holding out hope that the virtual reality headset would be on our faces by Christmas - but it's great to finally have a more concrete release date.

Oculus revealed the news in a blog post but with very few details. It did, however, give us a couple of looks at the final headset and promised official technical specifications next week.

The pictures revealed that the headset will be based on the Crescent Bay prototype while the post explains, interestingly, that the headset will feature a tracking system that's more supportive of both "seated and standing experiences."

Rift

Heads up

"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", reads the blog.

The company is keeping its cards close to its chest and there will be a longer wait for software, input and pricing details as well as what markets the launch will be in.

Oculus also announced that it has many unannounced dedicated VR games ready to show off - watch this space.

James Peckham

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.