HTC Vive pre-orders go live in February

One of the big three virtual reality companies has said consumers will be able to pre-order its headset next month.

HTC, which has partnered with Steam to make the Vive, will begin accepting pre-orders on February 29th.

Oculus Rift made a similar announcement last week, although that was just two days before it opened pre-orders. Like Oculus, HTC is keeping quiet about the unit’s pricing. As we all know, Oculus went on to name a 500 RRP for its headset – and chatter would have us believe that Steam’s device will cost even more.

The Vive was due to release at the tail end of 2015 but was pushed back at the last minute due to what was described as a very big technical breakthrough”. Said development turned out to be the integration of a camera that will at the touch of a button allow users to catch a ghostly glimpse of the real-world objects around them before they collide with their shins.

The Vive is due to go on sale in April. Oculus Rift begins shipping in March and PlayStation VR at some point in the first half of this year.

Speaking to The Telegraph, HTC chief executive Cher Wang explained that the company sees VR replacing smartphones in its affections.

Yes, smartphones are important, but to create a natural extension to other connected devices like wearables and virtual reality is more important," she said. I think the problem was competition – Apple, Xiaomi, these companies spend tons of money on communications and marketing, they pump a huge amount of investment into the market. There are a lot of Chinese competitors.”