While the Oculus Rift may have been the first big virtual reality headset of its kind, it's far from the only one. Several competitors have popped up over the last few years, with many major publishers looking to innovate in the virtual reality space. One of the Oculus' biggest competitors is none other than Sony - and the Project Morpheus headset could bring virtual reality gaming away from the computer and onto your PlayStation 4.
The only real problem with the Morpheus headset is that, like many other VR headsets, fans have no idea when to expect it. While the Oculus Rift is ahead of the pack with a generalized release window, it's easy to see how vague these companies are being when talking about finalized release dates. No one wants to rush their technology to market, that's for sure - but it also seems like no one wants to be the first one out, either.
Case in point: while the Oculus is set for a Q1 release next year, Sony is following suspiciously close behind. According to a Japanese newspaper, fans can expect to see Project Morpheus hit store shelves next June.
The news comes from the Japanese newspaper Asahi (via IGN), which claims that Sony's VR headset is being prepped for a June 2016 release. Seeing as Asahi is a Japanese newspaper, there's no telling if this June 2016 release is in reference to a global launch or a Japan-only event...but the timing hardly seems coincidental.
It's almost guaranteed that Sony will devote a large portion of its E3 presence to Project Morpheus - after all, the VR headset immediately separates Sony's gaming console from its competitors. If the timeline Asahi discovered is accurate, it would basically give Sony an entire year to push VR gaming as a PlayStation console exclusive - it makes a lot of sense, especially with many other Sony-exclusive titles getting pushed back to 2016.
Of course, without official verification from Sony, the June 2016 release date is just a rumor...but it's also a rumor that makes a whole lot of sense.
Either way, expect to hear more about Sony's VR plans at this year's E3 in June.
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