HTC promises more Vive dev kits and a commercial launch in April

Consumer versions of Valve and HTC's Vive virtual reality headsets are now expected to go on sale next April, according to an HTC blog post that also promised the delivery of 7,000 more devkits ahead of the headset's commercial debut.

This is a small but significant revision of the "Q1 2016" release window HTC laid out this summer when it delayed the Vive's widespread commercial launch out of 2015.  

It helps shed some much-needed light on when VR game developers can expect to see the Vive become widely available, which is important because the first half of 2016 is likely to see multiple VR platforms -- including the Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and the HTC Vive -- hitting store shelves, each with their own marketplaces and userbases.