John Carmack: Gear VR to get consumer launch with next Samsung update

Oculus CTO and gaming deity John Carmack has revealed that the Samsung VR will get a full commercial launch during Samsung’s next hardware cycle.

Since launching at IFA in September last year, the Gear VR has only been available to developers and enthusiasts.

Speaking at GDC, Carmack told the audience that Samsung had actually wanted to make the most recent version of the hardware available but Oculus’ preferred approach was to carry on running with the “Innovator” edition — released in December 2014 — until it felt it was ready to release something that could be made available to the general public.

As TechCrunch notes this is probably the most prominent proclamation of intent to bring VR to the mass market to date.

What it isn’t is a firm date. That still seems to be a long way off. But with increased competition in the augemented and virtual reality arena — even Microsoft’s HoloLens has added an exciting new dimension to the space — it seems likely that production will be ramped up in the near future.

Even bearing that in mind though, Carmack did warn the audience that a consumer launch of the Gear VR was still some way off, especially given that games played on the platform today can still cause nausea.