Oculus Rift Launching Q1 2016

Oculus Rift has announced that the retail version of its virtual reality unit will be available in the first quarter of 2016 and has shared images of what the final unit will look like. Unfortunately, the company kept details and specifications on the final Oculus Rift under tight lips, but did reveal that it will be based on the most recent Crescent Bay prototype and will come complete with integrated headphones and positional audio.

The company also said that the production unit will feature a new tracking system that supports “both seated and standing experiences,” although the headset will still be a wired unit. More details will be revealed “in the weeks ahead,” according to Oculus Rift, including many unannounced made-for-VR games. Expect details on the technical specifications to be published next week on the company’s blog.

Read: Facebook Acquires Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift was purchased by Facebook last year for $2 billion and already faces stiff competition from the marketplace. Earlier this year at the Game Developer’s Conference, HTC and Valve announced the Vive headset while Sony’s Morpheus got much improved for the PlayStation 4. The HTC unit is expected to ship this year and and Samsung has already embraced virtual reality with its Gear VR headset for mobile devices.

Pre-orders for the Oculus Rift will begin later this year.