HTC today announced that it will be launching the “second generation” of the HTC Vive Developer Kit at CES 2016 in January.

HTC made the announcement today via a blog update which confirmed a delay of the commercial launch of the Vive to April 2016. Given the odd placement for the confirmation of a second generation Vive dev kit (DK2), it may have been intended for a reveal at CES next month, but used in an effort to smooth over sour feelings from the delay.

See Also: HTC – Consumer Vive Is “Gonna Look a Lot Different,” Modular Headphones, New Mounting System, and More

HTC writes in their update that the second generation Vive developer kit will “launch” at CES 2016 which runs from January 6-9. Further, the company says they will be making available an “additional 7,000 units available to developers,” which is presumed to be the second version of the device.

The consumer ready version of the HTC Vive will launch in April 2016 but has yet to be priced.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Carl Usick

    Wow, just wow. They don’t even have a consumer version to show for all their big promises. Not that the dying HTC could turn out a quality product in such a ridiculous time frame, if at all. Thank the gods for Oculus. So say we all.

    • tokukaede

      I’ll buy an Oculus too but that said why “thanks the gods for Oculus”? Do you know anything more about it than the HTC?

      • Carl Usick

        Haha, I was mostly just being a little snarky, and referencing the new BSG, that spawned Caprica, which featured Matrix level VR in the plot.

        As far as it goes, at this point in history; no Oculus = no modern VR

        I’ve personally waited over 30 years for the really cool headset that will soon be available from and because of Oculus.

        So say we all.

    • user

      and you knew it before it happened. praise the gods and praise carl usick.

  • Anthony Kenneth Steele

    looks like it’s game over for htc vive.. oculus already ripped off the motion controllers from the vive.. game over.

    • user

      because thats what delay means, right? a delay in an economy which doesnt yet exist means game over?

      • David Lewis

        Exactly, stop jumping the gun folks. We got a empty market right now

        • Tom VR

          Agreed.

  • P. Pzwski

    Very weird things going on. What is ‘consumer version’? Are those people – who have years of experience on the market – does not know when they be able to sell something..?

    Are people in 50′ do not sold black-white TVs just because they were not HD?

    They already have product which will sell itself, and they can make money, and if they make better version just sell as next generation. Nobody stop selling 2d monitors or phones, just because they don’t have high specs – if people are willing to buy – we sell.

    This game with throwing news, smells just like big money, corporation games behind the scene.

  • David Lewis

    This was to be expected, everyone is a little gun shy right now, even Oculus. I’m guessing they will all release relatively close. The Vive is an amazing product but had its issues still based on the development kits. So let’s wait for a refined version and then game on :)

  • AK

    They should license the lighthouse-system to Oculus and join forces!

  • Glaubenskrieger

    They’re going to debut a dev kit at a consumer show?

  • dude

    Not really a “delay”. They have all the units ready to go for the limited launch but decide to re-brand them as 2nd gen devkit instead. I suspect Valve is puling string due to content side of things.

  • MELT

    Does anyone know how to get in line for the new batch of DEV kits?