It's been a long road, but the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is winging its way to developers now that the final version has been approved, Digital Spy reports.

VR game makers are about to get their hands on the feature-complete hardware, and it shouldn't be long before consumers get the chance to dive into virtual worlds.

Oculus CEO Palmer Luckey has taken to Twitter to confirm that the Rift is on course to hit its early-2016 release date.

"Thrilled to share some news: Manufacturing continues to go well, and we are still on-target for an awesome Rift launch in Q1," he wrote.

Oculus Rift exploded into the mainstream in the summer of 2014 when Facebook acquired the company behind the headset to the tune of $2 billion.

The device will face competition from rival headsets likes Sony's PlayStation VR and HTC's Vive, while Microsoft is exploring hologram technology with HoloLens.

Luckey has confirmed that Oculus Rift preorders will begin "soon after new year".