Sixa canceled its plans to roll out the Rivvr wireless VR HMD upgrade kit this summer and is in the process of refunding early adopters. Sixa ran into certification issues, and it doesn’t want to hold onto its customer’s money without knowing when it can deliver the product that they paid for.
Sixa revealed the Rivvr wireless VR HMD upgrade kit at CES 2017, and shortly after the show, the company opened pre-orders for the Rivvr kits with the expectation of releasing retail units this summer. We had the chance to thoroughly test a prototype of the Kit in March, and we were impressed with how it performed, leaving us with little reason to believe that Sixa wouldn’t be able to deliver on its promise.
Sixa has been silent about its progress for the last few months, and we suspected that the company was hunkered down, trying to finalize the product in time for its proposed release date. It turns out that was true, in a way.
Early this week, Reddit user "twack3r" reported that Rivvr began notifying pre-order backers that it would be canceling their orders and refunding the money they put down for their wireless upgrade kits, and they posted the statement that Sixa allegedly sent.
“Hi Backers, We regret to inform you that we decided to cancel Rivvr orders and provide you with the refund. Our mission is to build and deliver the top wireless VR experience. After making enormous efforts in development, product innovation and progress towards our goal, we are still facing delays in the certification and can’t’ keep you waiting anymore. We are terribly sorry to cancel the shipment date and your order, but we highly respect your time, plans and expectations. You’ll get [a] refund for your order shortly. We’ll also keep you updated on our progress, so stay tuned. We are extremely grateful for your support and trust! Thank you for your understanding. Best regards, The Rivvr Team”
We reached out to Mykola Minchenko, Sixa’s co-founder and CEO, and he confirmed the unfortunate news. Minchenko explained that he doesn’t want to put customers through the frustration of enduring multiple delays, so the company is refunding all orders.
“We've decided not to move forward [with the pre-orders] as we face the certification delays, the reasons for which are beyond our control and influence,” said Minchenko. “We simply don't want to postpone the shipment date again and again.”
Minchenko added that this isn’t the end of Rivvr. Sixa intends to rework the wireless HMD upgrade kit to adhere to the certification concerns, although there’s no way to predict how long that would take. We suspect we’ll hear more about the revised Rivvr kits in the coming months.
