Those of you who are waiting for the delivery of your Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets might be a bit disappointed to hear that an unexpected component shortage is currently responsible for a series of delays. Even though this might sound like a huge inconvenience at first, it’s worth pointing out that Facebook-owned Oculus has agreed to provide free shipping for pre-orders, which will hopefully appease some eager customers. The news was revealed by CEO Brendan Iribe, who posted the following on Twitter:
“First set of Rifts are going out slower than we orig estimated, so we’re giving free shipping for all pre-orders.”
Keep in mind that he was referring to all pre-orders placed before midnight PT on April 1, as these are the ones that will be affected by the delay. Oculus has also sent an email to all affected customers, which said that an updated shipping date will be revealed on April 12. Priced at $599, these virtual reality headsets started shipping on March 28, but since HTC’s Vive VR headset will also start shipping on April 5, some Oculus Rifts won’t be the first VR headsets to reach their customers. At the time of writing, Oculus has not revealed any more information regarding the delay, but we will keep you posted.
That’s not what the email said at all, this is what I received (it’s updated BY the 12th, not revealed on so there’s still hope):
We’re working hard to get up-to-date ship windows, and you should expect to see your order status updated on oculus.com by Tuesday, April 12.