Developing for the upcoming HTC Vive virtual reality headset could be a little cheaper than doing so on the Oculus Rift DK2, as HTC has said that any developer, be they large or small, will be given a developer's edition version of the headset for free if they want it.
It's already started the giving process too, with developers like Owlchemy Labs, Bossa Studios, Fireproof Games, and Cloudhead Games - responsible between them for the likes of AAaaa for the Awesome, The Room and The Gallery - all having received their HTC headset, twin hand tracking motion controllers and positional tracking base units.
Developers that have registered their interest will begin receiving the kits in 'late spring' according to Ars Technica. However, as it points out, as altruistic as this system is, it does mean that members of the press and fans of the technology are much less likely to get their hands on one until much later on, potentially not until the commercial version is released towards the end of this year.
In comparison, Sony has been sending out Morpheus kits for almost a year already, so the future - and the near future at that - looks very bright for VR. Virtual reality is going to kick off in a big way over the next 12 moths.
Color me excited.
