We already know when the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is coming out and the PC specs you’ll need to run it. But in early June, we’ll finally get a good look at what should be the final version of the product leading up to the Rift’s pre-sale period later in 2015.
Oculus VR, the Facebook-owned company behind the Rift, recently announced a June 11 press event with the tagline “Step into the Rift.” The invite shows the same rendering of the Rift that we saw in early, May when the company announced an early 2016 release date for the consumer version.
As is typical for these kinds of events there’s little other information about what Oculus has planned. But based on previous statements we should get a look at the roster of launch titles for the Rift.
The Oculus event comes just five days before the E3 gaming conference, and is explicitly described as a “pre-E3 press conference.” Unless Oculus plans on hosting a second event during E3, the company will probably shed some light on the “made-for-VR games and experiences coming to the Rift.”
We already know that EVE: Valkyrie will be an Oculus Rift launch title, but what else will be in the lineup? Oculus has spent its newfound Facebook cash assembling a gaming dream team, after all.
Another big unknown that the June event might answer is how much the headset will cost. So far, all we know is the Rift will be priced higher than the $200 Gear VR. A pricing announcement is far from guaranteed, however, as Oculus might want to save that bit of information until closer to the pre-sale date.
The story behind the story: Finally, after nearly three years of hype the Oculus Rift has a launch date, but the VR landscape of 2015-2016 looks nothing like 2012. Back then there was the Rift and only the Rift. Now, there’s Samsung’s GearVR, Sony’s Project Morpheus, and upstarts like Fove, not to mention the highly-anticipated HTC Vive powered by Valve’s SteamVR technology, which is expected to hit store shelves in time for the holidays. The Rift took forever to get here as the company waited to get every detail just right, including the handheld controller. Nevertheless, the Rift should still have the magic to become the market leader it was widely expected to be lo those many years ago when it was just a Kickstarter campaign.