Earlier this week HTC revealed that its much anticipated virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), the HTC Vive, would not be arriving before the end of this near nor in the first quarter of next, instead going on sale in April 2016. The news came as a disappointment to many, though for others it was simply a relief to have a solid release month attached to a major HMD at long last. What wasn’t revealed, however, is when fans will get the chance to pre-order the device. Now HTC itself has seemingly confirmed this information.
Pre-orders will be opening in February 2016. Oddly, the original HTC blog post that announced the HTC Vive’s delay has been ever so slightly changed to include this information. One sentence in the final paragraph now reads: “We will be starting the new year by making an additional 7,000 units available to developers, with pre-orders from the end of February followed by commercial availability in April 2016.” For comparison’s sake, the original post is still available on Facebook and makes no mention of that date. The company doesn’t seem to be drawing any attention to the update elsewhere.
Hopefully this means that final release and pricing information will also become available in February. This is far from the only pre-order information VR fans have heard about today, however. For the Oculus Rift – due to launch in Q1 2016 – CCP Games has confirmed that its upcoming multiplayer space combat experience, EVE: Valkyrie, will be given away for free to those that pre-order the HMD. It’s not yet clear when the kit will be available to order, however, nor for what price. Next year’s other big release, the PlayStation VR, is also yet to open pre-orders.
VRFocus will continue to provide the latest information for both the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, so check back often.
-END-
The post HTC Confirms When HTC Vive Pre-Orders Will Go Live appeared first on VRFocus.
