It’s finally happened. This isn’t yet another prototype or dev kit — the Oculus Rift has officially launched today. Early adopters and backers of the VR device’s Kickstarter campaign way back in 2012 should be receiving the hardware at some point today.
Coinciding with the launch, the company made a blog post to announce a new SDK update — and more importantly, that the hardware will remain open and developers creating content for the Oculus Rift will be free to sell on other platforms besides the Oculus Store.
The official statement reads:
“The Oculus platform and store are designed to provide the best VR experience and content, but we also recognize that people will want to use apps that aren’t available on the Oculus platform or in the store. As a developer, you don’t have to be in the Oculus Store — you can sell outside, and when you do that you can you use your own IAP if you prefer, and we don’t take a cut. You can also request keys (royalty free) to sell your Oculus PC app on other stores, while making it available to the community through the Oculus platform.”
This means that not only can developers sell on platforms like Steam or even directly to players but, by requesting keys, players can still access and launch games through the Oculus home screen. You can pick up the device yourself, which launches with 30 titles, from the company’s website; just make sure you’ve got a spare $599 in your pocket.
The VR race has been heating up recently with PlayStation, Microsoft and Valve all cooking up devices of their own. The Rift might be first out of the gate but this VR contest is an endurance event and time will tell who will come out on top.
Already got your hands on one? Want one? Not convinced yet? Got your eyes set on another device? Let us know what you think about the technology in the comments below.
