It seems Facebook is thinking too much about how to make its Oculus Rift and Touch controllers more acceptable. The Oculus Rift and Touch bundle was already available with a steep $200 discount (or at $399) during the summer sale, and now, the company has announced new permanent pricing for its VR headset.
Oculus Rift and Touch controllers in a single package
On Thursday, Facebook stated that when the summer sale ends in around five weeks, the bundle will get a new price of $499.
“Now, to continue getting the best VR experience into everyone’s hands, we’re permanently bundling Rift and Touch in the same package for $499, and available now for just $399 during our Summer of Rift sale—limited time only!” Oculus said in a blog post.
When the VR headset first became available, the bundle cost almost $800, but in March, it got a price cut to $598.
The company also announced that it will now be bundling the two products (Oculus Rift with Touch controllers) together in a single package. However, this could mean that the Xbox One controller won’t be sold as part of the bundle, making many games incompatible, notes TechCrunch. The bundle will now include the Touch controllers, the Rift headset, copies of Lucky’s Tale, Medium, Toybox, Quill, Dead and Buried, Robo Recall and all necessary cables.
Currently, over 500 games are available through the Oculus online store, including Batman: Arkham VR, Elite Dangerous and Star Trek: Bridge Crew. The blog added that Lone Echo and Echo Arena will hit the Oculus Store next week, while games like Brass Tactics, From Other Suns, and Arktika.1 will be available later this year.
What does this latest price cut mean?
A permanent price cut surely is welcome news for fans, but “to onlookers the move does leave questions about what exactly is happening over at the Facebook-owned virtual reality company,” says TechCrunch. There are possibilities that the company is clearing out stock before it releases its next-gen offering.
Nevertheless, it surely is a bold move from the company, which is facing competition from HTC’s $799 Vive headset. Facebook, however, will be hoping that the price cut will help the hardware register aggressive sales numbers. Neither Oculus nor HTC releases sales numbers for their headsets, but analysts believe that HTC’s Vive is selling better than the Rift. According to the research firm Superdata, about 243,000 Oculus headsets were sold in 2016. Last month, Sony revealed that its Playstation VR had hit over a million units in sales. Sony’s PlayStation VR bundle costs about $460.
You can buy the Rift bundle from Oculus’ official website or from many authorized retailers. However, if you are not in a hurry to grab one or want to wait for more discounts, Bloomberg has some good news for you. It is reported that Oculus is currently working with Xiaomi on developing a $200 wireless VR headset that won’t need a PC or phone. The headset is expected to arrive sometime next year.
