Oculus Touch isn’t here for consumers just yet, as the company just narrowed their launch window down to Q4 of this year. But if you’re a developer, you might just get your hands on a Touch dev kit in the very near future.

oculus touch 2016 prototype hands on gdc (3)
See Also: Hands-on – Oculus Touch 2016 Prototype Brings Refinements to an Already Elegant Design

In an apparent bid to win back consumer confidence in the face of the Rift’s initial “unexpected component shortage” back during in the March launch, which saw several months of delays as a result, Oculus today said in a blog post that the company is “on track to launch Touch and introduce true hand presence along with an amazing lineup of games and experiences later this year.”

Though the Touch dev kits won’t be open for sale like the company’s first two headset dev kits, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe tweet this week that “thousands of Touch dev kits are going to developers now.”

With a healthy dose of skepticism, one Twitter user asked if Iribe was certain about the announcement, and if Oculus really was sending the company’s natural input device to so many developers. Iribe’s response? Over 5,000 are headed to devs.

And with Oculus Connect, the company’s annual developer conference, coming at the beginning of Q4 (October 5-7th), we’re sure to hear more about Touch then. We’re crossing our fingers for Rift/Touch bundles, a definite price & release date, and the full list of 30+ Touch launch titles.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.

  • Man, how do I get on *THAT* list? I am a developer, but so far i can only develop on the VIVE. I can’t make something for hardware I don’t have.

  • Nads

    Thanks to the microsoft partnership i have a good inkling that htc vive will end up dieing! A shame as its an awesome piece of hardware! Room scale is awesome in it even if the headset is knowhere as nice as the rift.

    However, all the big titles will be making games maibly for oculus only and in the end its the software that counts only! I have a very good feeling that all the big games will only come to the oculus and tech demos and early access buggy demo games will be coming to the vive.

    PSVR and Oculus Rift is most likely to rule this VR generation! With PSVR winning by far….

    I love my vive and currently use it atleast 80% more then the rift. Infact i only use the rift for the big “sitdown” titles such as edge of knowhere, eve valkrie, elite dangerous, luckys tale, the climb etc…

    But most of the time i find myself wanting to move around and play more immersive titles which is why i keep going back to the vive.

    Im assuming that the majority of these 5000 dev kits that are being sent out are from microsoft to the big games studios, to make there games ready especially for next year when the oculus rift becomes compatible with the xbox one scorpio!

    • brandon9271

      Until the announce Half-life 3 as a Vive exclusive… lol. ;P

      • Matt R

        i’d sell my kids for that.

    • Smokey_the_Bear

      I think the vast majority of content will be playable on the Vive, Rift, & PSVR. SO it comes down to which one is better. The Vive is the most impressive, giving you the most immersion. The Rift is the best looking design (looks clean, plus built in headphones). The PSVR has the best price point, and large fan base.

      The PSVR will sell the most, so If you basing it on what company makes the most money, then Sony wins.

      The real winner is the consumer, because we have several great options!

      • yag

        “The Vive is the most impressive, giving you the most immersion.”

        yeah until Touch is out… dunno what it will be left for the Vive… a bit more tracking volume ?

        • JoeD

          More than 180deg of freedom. Yes, we know, it’s all hypothetical. But developers have been, and will continue to make games for the rift that, if they have room scale, will be limited to 180.

    • JoeD

      You didn’t make much of an argument. No one really cares about what Microsoft is doing on the games front. And you’ve admitted you play your Vive 80% of the time. When it can be shown that the Rift, and the games developed for it, will take advantage of actual room scale rather than a limited, 180deg, front facing experience, then we can talk.

      I don’t see the PSVR being dominant. The supposedly less expensive VR experience will more than likely be dominated by much more expensive games, making the whole endeavor a lot more expensive than people are thinking. Plus, you’ll get far more experimentation from indie developers on a platform like Steam than you will on something like the PS4.

  • Get Schwifty!

    The Touch is going to be a significant change to the equation. Room-scale VR is nice, but there probably will be more games over time that don’t require it than do, at least in the next couple years.

    What people are not aware of or forgetting is two key things in relation to a perceived lack of possible room scale with Oculus Rift despite the short cable. Even one camera tracks you turning around quite nicely, with two (the second with the controllers) in a reasonable space (easily 7’x7′) that’s enough to track you pretty well for limited room-scale. Combining this with Valve’s open system for chaperone and tracking supporting Oculus room scale (with a cable extension) should not be a problem for a Rift+Touch setup.

    I think the Vive is great and cool, but I think the Touch design is going to create a “touch-immersion” that will surpass the current Vive wand design. If (as it has been stated by Valve) the system is open and demos of two cameras which show support for room-scale VR with the Rift+Touch are correct, the only real thing the Rift will lack is the front camera (which I believe Rift v2.0 will probably get).

    • Kev

      I have retyped this so many times just because I hate to agree with you but I cannot argue. As much as it irks me that the closed ecosystem approach that Facebookulus have taken is working. The content they have demoed is much more polished than what Vive currently offers. If the rift can do room-scale it will become the better device to have :(. With the glitches the vive camera has I havn’t been using it and don’t miss it, its easy enough to lift the headset up. My 1500 AUD vive will still be fun for a few years though. Even just with the current games in the works it will be a great device until next Gen and 6-12 months of roomscale I will get before touch comes out (lol 4th quarter sure ok) will be worth it.

      • JoeD

        The supposed better tech does not always win the race, otherwise we’d all have been watching Betamax over VHS long ago.

    • JoeD

      Now if you could just convince consumers that Oculus, as a company, doesn’t suck.

    • X Lord B

      imho the camera on the front of the oculus is not necessary. they already demonstrated chaperone abilities without it. and considering the majority of people will clear their playspace from objects infront of them what other use is there for the camera.????