Oculus VR’s Jason Rubin predicts the pants-ripping next wave of VR

The person responsible for the next wave of virtual reality software coming from Oculus Rift developers is giddy about how rapidly things are going to change over the next few years.

Jason Rubin, head of content at Oculus Rift, revealed in a chat at the GamesBeat 2016 conference in Ranchos Palos Verdes that he ripped his pants the first time he put on a virtual reality headset. Now, as the game boss at one of the biggest VR companies, he claimed that the next 6 to 12 months will bring some industry-changing software to VR that could split your seams as well. But he also teased that he’s seen some of the games that is still a few years off, and Rubin explained that even he can’t predict how this wave of experiences will shape how people interact with VR. Analysts are predicting VR could generate $40 billion in revenues by 2020, but to get to that point, Oculus has had to survive the treacherous early days of launching a new platform.

“I have [the chance] to look six months to a year ahead,” Rubin said. “If you think what is out now is cool, what’s coming is absolutely incredible. Things are going to change so rapidly and so crazily over the next four to five years, that we don’t even know what we’re looking at.”

While Rubin didn’t attempt to predict the future in grand, sci-fi terms, he did mention that it should involve revenues for studios willing to figure out the challenges of VR.

“For developers, it’s going to be lucrative,” he said.

Looking back at the launch of the Rift, however, Rubin acknowledged that the first few months did not go as well as Oculus had hoped. The Oculus Rift VR headset is now at a point where you can walk into a Best Buy to purchase one, but it took the Facebook subsidiary the entire spring and most of the summer to get to that point.

“The launch was mixed,” said Rubin. “The reviews from consumers and media were very positive. We didn’t hit our shipping dates. This is well known. We’ve made our apologies. What we’ve learned is it’s one thing to make a great product, but you have to follow up on your promises.”

The executive said that his team learned that they need to deliver. He promised that Oculus will do exactly that when it launches the Oculus Touch hand controllers later this year. That peripheral provides players with the sensation of having their hands in VR. It doesn’t have a release date yet other than “later this year.” But don’t expect to have to wait long once the preorders start shipping to get yours.