Ever since the announcement about HTC Vive, the virtual reality headset from HTC, was made in March this year, the rumor mill has been going crazy about its official launch date.
Providing some clarification, HTC issued an official statement on Tuesday. The company said in a blog post:
“We will be starting the new year by making an additional 7,000 units available to developers, followed by commercial availability in April 2016.”
The company said that it has been focused on developing immersive content, refining both hardware design and user experience, and building relationships with new partners both inside and outside of the gaming industry.
Also, the HTC Vive Developer Kits are being distributed to developers and content creators in collaboration with Valve. HTC is working with many other innovative companies to create content that spans gaming, entertainment, medical, education and retail.
The tech company will be hosting a developer conference in Beijing on December 18th, launching the second generation of the HTC Vive Developer Kit at CES and engaging audiences at key events including The Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, GDC and MWC while expanding our demo tours.
HTC is still keeping the features and pricing of the headset under wraps, though most speculation currently suggests that it will be priced around $500. According to SteamPowered website, the HTC Vive Developer Edition is the first look at SteamVR – a full-featured, 360° room-scale VR experience. The Vive Developer Edition is a development kit that includes a headset, two single-handed controllers, and a system that tracks them all in the same absolute space.
