According to a report from Business Insider Australia, the consumer version of the Oculus Rift (also known as the CV1) will go on sale in 2015.

Update (5/1/2014, 12:52pm EDT): Speaking with Road to VR, Oculus reiterates what their position has been for some time now: that no release date has been set for the CV1.

Continue original story:

While it’s been suspected for some time now that the consumer version of the Oculus Rift would launch in late 2014 or early 2015, Business Insider Australia claims that 2015 has been confirmed by Oculus. The info appears to have been extrapolated from a quote by Jim Redner, one of Oculus VR’s PR folks, at the Facebook F8 developer conference where the Oculus Rift DK2 was being shown today.

Management at Oculus VR, the Irvine, California company that Facebook bought for $US2 billion earlier this year, will be “disappointed” if it doesn’t have a headset available at retail for ordinary people by 2016, according to Jim Redner, an Oculus spokesperson.

The rest of the Business Insider Australia article smacks of unfamiliarity with the Oculus Rift; I’m not putting much stock in their headline until we hear something directly from Oculus, whom we’ve reached out to for comment. Oculus hasn’t officially confirmed or denied 2014 as a release date for the Oculus Rift CV1, but it is unclear how the Facebook acquisition may have impacted their schedule.

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.


Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Kojack

    “and to make matters worse, the URL of their article says “2014″ instead of “2015″”

    The 2014 in the url is the date of the article, not the date of the rift release. All their article urls have that.

    • Ben Lang

      You’re right, thanks for pointing that out, I’ll fix the article.

  • eyeandeye

    The quote from their article states “2016”. If that isn’t a typo, then why is BIA extrapolating a 2015 release date?

    • ElectroPulse

      Because they were saying that if it wasn’t released by (meaning before) 2016, they’d be disappointed.

  • Alkapwn

    Seems like a classic get in while the iron’s hot. Be first to strike despite the validity of the claim. The good thing that we can take away from this is more and more media outlets are covering VR validating the genre and spreading the word to the mass public. Sometimes I just wish they’re be a bit more researched when doing so. Too many false or miss-informed headlines could start having a bad effect. This reminds me of when a lot of articles were stating the Rift has two screens.

  • Alkapwn

    Oh journalism! That’s why I love Road to VR. You guys do your research. Thanks for being the go to spot for VR news and info!

    • Ben Lang

      Thanks, Alkapwn, it’s nice to see that someone notices. You can tell we were skeptical from the get-go.

      It’s sad to see the length people will go to try to get an attention grabbing headline.

  • Chris Given

    As I expected…2015 for CV1… Exactly why I opted to buy the DK2 and with this news I suspect more and more people will do the same seeing as how you’ll be able to use it for perhaps upto a year before the CV1 comes out… That being said the extra time they are taking should make the difference between the DK2 and CV1 huge!! I am glad that I will have the experience in the DK2 so I will know exactly what that difference is!!

  • Curtrock

    I have been waiting for VR since the 90’s. (Lawnmower Man) I ordered the DK2 the same day it went on sale. I don’t care if the CV1 gets released the day after I get my DK2. I’ll buy that too! I’m just thrilled to be able to participate in the VR revolution/evolution, for the measly cost of $300/$350 per unit… I’m excited as shit to see what the DK2 is gonna be like, in July…..good times….