Oculus Rift pre-order backlog finally clears

Facebook-owned Oculus VR has announced that it has cleared its backlog of pre-orders and Kickstarter rewards, and that, from this week, shipping of its Oculus Rift headset will be on a two to four day timescale.

While Oculus VR won considerable early support on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter for its clever virtual reality hardware, it has done much to squander that goodwill of late. Since its acquisition by Facebook, the company has been accused of everything from IP infringement to demanding platform exclusivity from developers - the former being part of ongoing lawsuits, the latter being defended by the company as being only for timed exclusivity and then only for developers seeking funding. Its handling of the commercial launch has been of particular concern by fans and critics alike: numerous delays beset the release, and pre-order customers were left waiting even as the device was placed into retail stores. Coupled with the success of HTC's rival Vive device launch, it's fair to say Oculus VR has had a rough few months.

Now though, there's reason for the company to celebrate: with hardware shortages a thing of the past, the company claims to have finally solved its order backlog. Speaking to Slashgear, an Oculus spokesperson confirmed that all pre-ordered units have been shipped and that inventory at retail partners is increasing.

Those ordering an Oculus VR headset now, the company has stated, can expect to have their device shipped within four days. The Oculus Touch VR control hardware, however, is still unavailable ahead of a vague 'later this year' launch date.