Oculus plans to release Touch controllers for Rift in November

Oculus plans to release the Touch controllers for its VR headset Rift in November. Ars Technica reports this during a hands-on with a new version of the controllers. While the site doesn’t say it, the information appears to come directly from Oculus.

So far, Rift is holding it to “later this year” for the controllers to release, but in a hands-on video, Ars editor Kyle Orland says Oculus is aiming for November, but it’s not certain yet. That seems like one reason Oculus hasn’t mentioned the date yet. The company will want to do that if it is certain. Although Orland doesn’t say it literally, his information seems to come from Oculus. He mentions himself as a source ‘someone who walks by’, while pointing to the Oculus booth at the E3 game fair.

The Oculus Rift came out this spring without controllers, unlike competitor HTC Vive. With controllers, users can see their hands in the image of the VR headset and thus operate interface elements, including menus, but also in-game elements such as weapons.

Oculus’ Touch controllers were first shown a year ago at E3 2015. The two handsets, one for the left and one for the right, are mirror images of each other and have tracking technology all around. At release, there will be thirty games for the Touch controllers, claims Oculus. Meanwhile, the company has been criticized for trying to claim exclusive titles for the Rift. On Reddit, among others, developers say that Oculus offers a lot of money to temporarily release a game only on the Rift.

Looking back: review of the Oculus Rift, without controllers