The virtual reality revolution is creeping up on the public, and it begins today with the Oculus Rift, set to launch today with a total of 30 games under its belt. For those who either placed their pre-orders or will be making a launch purchase as more orders can now be placed, the Oculus Rift will have plenty to offer from the get-go. For developers, Oculus is launching something else. The latest version of the Rift PC SDK which is version 1.3, which ushers in quite a few new features including the previously mentioned asynchronous timewarp that Oculus states will help the headset offer better performance to users with an experience that is “20 to 100 times smoother” than without it.
One of the biggest new features of the SDK is of course the asynchronous timewarp, as it should help to improve the performance of the unit which will make for smoother experiences in games for the users, but it also isn’t the only change that makes a splash. It’s worth noting that developers will need to utilize the version 1.3 of the Oculus SDK for their app or game to run on the Rift, which should be expected. Alongside the Asynchronous timewarp improvements in the software, developers will now have the opportunity to sell their games outside of the Oculus store and offer them on other store platforms. Oculus also states that they won’t take a cut of the profits from in-app purchases as they’re allowing developers to use their own IAP should they sell their games outside of the Oculus store.
In addition to these changes, Oculus will now be launching two previously mentioned areas of the Oculus Store on PC, called Concepts and Early Access, meant to give developers a place to publish conceptual game and app experiences as well as demos, and games or apps which are still in development. The early access section should feel familiar to any users who frequent Valve’s Steam platform on PC, which also has an early access tool that allows developers to publish their unfinished games or apps while keeping the game in development and receiving feedback from the users. Developers will also have access to the Oculus Platform SDK 1.0, which will allow for the integration of features like leaderboards, multiplayer matchmaking, and peer-to-peer networking.