When the Oculus Rift was released, it was praised for its ability to bring virtual reality to a more massive audience. But while the hardware itself was effective and efficient, its price turned off a lot of possible consumers. Facebook is now trying to remedy that issue by cutting costs, which will hopefully be enough for more individuals to pick up the virtual reality headset.
As noted by C|Net, Facebook recently confirmed that it is cutting down the price of the Oculus Rift by US$100, which prices one unit at US$499. Meanwhile, the Touch motion controllers have also been cut by the same amount, which means they are now priced at US$99. The price of the Oculus Sensor has also been diminished from US$79 to US$59.
It is unclear why Facebook decided to dramatically cut the prices of its VR products, but the publication argued that the move is quite telling about the state of sales. The actual numbers have not been publicized, but Oculus Head of Content, Jason Rubin, indicated in a blog post earlier this week that the Oculus Rift was trailing behind in the market. The statement, however, was more general. "Console VR is less expensive and currently outselling PC VR," he wrote. "And even less expensive Mobile VR headsets, like our Gear VR device, are outselling Console VR."
Rubin went on to say that Oculus is aware that price matters and they have done the research to prove so. The price cuts of the company's devices are for the benefit of the consumer as well as Oculus itself. Rubin is hopeful that the reduction will entice more consumers to join the world of VR. Theoretically, more users will mean better communities, as well as more investments. More investments, in turn, could mean better software for individuals to experience.
The Oculus exec also promised that there will be a better content for the Rift headset, but could not specify when exactly the "killer app" would hit the market. He reasoned that nobody could have predicted how big the likes of "Mario" and "Halo" would be. Nevertheless, it looks like the company is going to work double time to make its headset and its entire system the leader in the VR market.
