7,000 extra HTC Vive dev kits to be released in early 2016

HTC has let loose a slew of new information about its upcoming VR headset, the Vive.

Created in partnership with Valve, the hardware was originally slated for a full Q1 2016 launch – having been delayed out of its initial 2015 window.

This has now been refined to a commercial release in April, the manufacturer revealed on its blog.

Ahead of the consumer model’s launch, over 7,000 extra developer kits for the HTC Vive will be released to game and software creators at the ‘start of the new year’.

The second generation of the Vive will be unveiled at CES next year, with a developer conference being hosted by HTC on December 18th in Beijing.

Had it launched this year as planned, Vive would’ve been the first VR headset for PC or console (following mobile hardware Samsung Gear VR’s launch in November) to fully arrive at market.

Instead, it now finds itself in closer proximity to the as-yet unannounced releases of rival headsets Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, which are also slated for launch in the first half of 2016.