Oculus Touch, the handheld controller system which will let you fully immerse in the virtual reality world, will not be released in the previously-anticipated first quarter of 2016.
In the Oculus Official Blog post, the Oculus Team announced that Touch will instead be shipped in the second half of 2016, citing that they needed more time before the controller's release.
Oculus explained in the blog that they are making improvements in the hardware component of the controller, pointing that they have already made major innovations in its ergonomics. However, the team cited that they are still looking to implement changes to make the controller more comfortable and natural to use as well as improve its "hand pose recognition."
The team also stressed that they are doing a higher volume of pre-production runs in order to deliver the device to game developers to give them more time to get used to it and incorporate it to their games.
"The feedback on Touch has been incredibly positive, and we know this new timeline will produce an even better product, one that will set the bar for VR input. We appreciate your patience and promise Touch will be worth the wait," Oculus furthered in the announcement.
On the other hand, along with the planned improvements on Touch, Oculus also teased about bringing new "ground-breaking content" alongside the controller besides the previews that they shared during the Oculus Connect 2 last September.
For starters, Oculus Touch is a pair of tracked controllers that promises to take VR gaming further. The controller, which features motion-based input, physical control and haptic feedback, will allow users to interact with objects in the VR world to bring that promised immersive VR experience.
Pre-orders for Touch will start a few months before its release. Meanwhile, the highly anticipated VR headset of Oculus called Rift will not be affected with the delay and will push through on its Q1 2016 release with pre-orders "launching very soon."
There are currently no price mentioned for Oculus Touch and Rift. Nonetheless, Rift, according to a tweet by Oculus CEO and founder Palmer Luckey, will be sold "insanely cheap" considering what's in the VR device.
Virtual reality has been predicted to make wave in gaming this 2016 with the Rift, HTC's Vive VR headset and PlayStation VR scheduled to be released early this year.
Are you excited about the emergence of VR for gaming? What do you expect to see from the Oculus Touch when released? Let us know in the comments below.