Oculus has finally spoken up about why it’s taking so long to get Rift VR headsets out the door, explaining that a shortage of components is to blame for the rocky launch of the new piece of hardware.
The news keeps getting worse and worse for Oculus Riftearly adopters, as delays of a couple of weeks have now stretched into delays of a couple of months for many who pre-ordered the virtual reality headset.
Speaking with Tech Crunchearlier today, however, Oculus finally explained why the delays are actually happening. You may recall that, earlier this month, Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey spoke up about the initial delays, saying that he did not plan on giving any further details until he had all of the facts lined up.
It was announced at the time that Rift orders through that date would ship free of charge but, outside of that, no explanation was actually given.
Well, we finally have the details but, unfortunately, it means even longer delays for folks who are eager to strap a Rift to their forehead. While Oculus did not answer any of Tech Crunch’s specific questions or comment on how many Rifts have been shipped at this point, the developer explained that the delays are due to “a component shortage.”
According to the story, Oculus’ statement is that a lack of certain components used to produce the Rift headset has resulted in the long delays that, yes, have been extended up to two additional months in some cases. While the Rifttechnically launched earlier this month, many folks who pre-ordered the device aren’t expected to receive their headsets until sometime this June.
According to the statement, the team is actually shipping Rifts every day and focusing on “getting Riftsout the door” as fast as they can, ensuring worried consumers that steps have been taken to address the component shortage.
The Oculus team also took to Twitter to make its apology public.
We apologize for the delay getting Rifts to your doorstep. We’re addressing the component shortage and shipping Rifts as fast as we can.
— Oculus (@oculus) April 12, 2016That’s certainly a bummer, especially since folks have already been waiting a long time for the Rift to finally launch. Black marks like this are especially worrisome in the early days of a new platform launch, as the Rift is exactly wanting for competition at the moment. Could these delays and a lack of communication on the part of Oculus provide a nudge for people debating between a Rift, HTC Viveor the PlayStation VR? We’ll just have to wait and see how things shake out for VR as the year progresses.
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