A report published last month in Fortune seemed to indicate that HTC would make the SteamVR / Vive Developer Edition system available for sale prior to the forthcoming launch of the consumer version of the headset. Speaking with Road to VR, HTC says that the notion was misunderstood.
Speaking with HTC’s Jeff Gattis, executive director of global marketing for connected products, Fortune wrote that “Gattis says by summer fans who don’t want to wait for the consumer version this fall will be able to get the HTC Vive Developers Edition.”
Unlike Oculus, which has made their Rift development kits openly available for purchase by developers and enthusiasts alike, the HTC Vive Developer Edition is being given away for free but only to select developers chosen by Valve. The company has been soliciting developer signups for the development kit since April 21st.
See Also: HTC Vive and SteamVR Hands-on – A Stage of Constant Presence
VR enthusiasts eager to get their hands on the lauded VR system couldn’t be blamed for understanding the Fortune report to mean that the unit would be openly sold to early-adopters prior to the fall launch, especially given that it had been published on the same day that developer-only signups for the HTC Vive Developer Edition had been launched by Valve without actually mentioning those signups.
“HTC is not making dev kits available to consumers,” an HTC spokesperson told Road to VR regarding the report. “I wasn’t in the interview so I’m not exactly sure what was said but this is not accurate.”
The company says that they’ve reached out to Fortune for a correction.
On the bright side, wordage involving the launch of SteamVR / HTC Vive has largely moved from ‘holiday’ to ‘fall’, which could be a good indicator of the previously suspected November launch of the system.
Lead photo courtesy Maurizio Pesce (CC BY 2.0)