Facebook is still planning to release new Oculus Rift hardware, denies recent rumours

Yesterday, we learned that Oculus co-founder and former CEO, Brendan Iribe, would be leaving the company. At the time, some reports claimed that his departure was due to another internal shake-up, which saw work on a new Rift headset scrapped. It turns out that this rumour was inaccurate as Facebook confirms work on future Rift/PC hardware is still happening.

In a statement sent over to us last night, we were told that Oculus is “planning a future version of the Rift”. Mark Zuckerburg's comments at Oculus Connect 5 earlier this year are cited as evidence. During the event, Zuckerburg said: “when we release the next version of Rift — which isn't this year — all of the content that works for Rift will also work on the next version.”

Oculus isn't “quite ready to talk about the next version of Rift” but assures that PC VR is still a category that the company is investing in. While Brendan Iribe might be gone, the Rift/PC team at Oculus will continue to be headed by Nate Mitchell, who was co-running the PC division with Iribe up until his departure.

KitGuru Says: I'm glad to see that the Rift hasn't been left behind, although I would like more parity across the Oculus ecosystem going forward. There are several media apps I'd like to use on my Rift, but are sadly only available on Oculus Go or the Gear VR. Separating the Rift from these other headsets just splits the ecosystem unnecessarily, so hopefully that is something that is addressed better in the future, even if the Rift is primarily for gaming. 

Become a Patron!