Oculus Rift Now Available for Pre-Order for the Price of…$599
Just over three years ago, Palmer Luckey started a new business called Oculus with the mission that it would bring affordable virtual reality to the masses. Now, the time for the official release of the first consumer version is coming soon, but it seems many are unsatisfied with most of the new revelations put forth today.
First, the finalized pricing of the first consumer version is $599 not including tax and shipping. That’s more than double the price of the development kits Oculus has sold for the past three years and nowhere near the ballpark price of $350 Luckey shared just a few months ago last quarter. A number of those who were closely following and anticipating the Rift’s release have expressed disappointment at the price.
Second, the first batch of pre-orders will ship as early as the 28th of March and some purchasers are reporting their ship dates as late at May. This barely scrapes the promised Q1 2016 release which is also pretty close to the expected release of the consumer version of the HTC Vive in April.
Lastly and more uplifting, Oculus has promised that each of its Kickstarter backers will get a free Rift. We’ve seen lots of crowdfunded projects end up in smoke and Oculus is acknowledging the support it received during its most tenuous times before the financial security of the acquisition by Facebook in March 2014.
Just like the story that’s played these past years, it’s difficult to predict the future of VR onward. Luckey has implied that $599 is the early adopter price, but has also shared that units will be sold at a loss. There is hope that competition will drive down prices as hype now builds behind the HTC Vive.