The official price of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset has been set and has caused quite a backlash among the gamer community.
The company Oculus VR is pricing the headset at 599 US dollars. Converted to euros and including shipping costs, customs duties, and taxes, the price is nearly 750 euros! That is a hefty sum that no one probably expected. Especially since it was stated by the manufacturers a few months ago that one should expect a price of more than 350 dollars.
While they were correct, there is a significant difference between 350 dollars and 599 dollars, or 741 euros! One might have thought that they should have stayed a bit closer to the actual price to mitigate the current criticism. Oculus Rift is expected to hit the market in early April.
An expensive hobby
It must be said that hobbies can be expensive. This applies to any hobby. If someone buys a new, current smartphone every two years, they probably spend around 700 euros each time. If someone enjoys cycling, they might also buy a bike that costs a few thousand euros. Hobbies are expensive, and everyone has to know for themselves what they are willing to spend on them. However, the high price of the Oculus Rift could lead to the success of VR gaming only gradually establishing itself. Because for many gamers, nearly 750 euros is certainly too much money.
The head of Oculus Rift, Palmer Luckey, once said the same. In an interview from 2013, he mentioned that gamers are not necessarily a wealthy group. If something costs $600, it can be as great as it wants. For many, it simply cannot exist.
Now it sounds quite different. $600 is absurdly cheap for what the hardware delivers.
To reiterate, we are not making money on Rift hardware. High end VR is expensive, but Rift is obscenely cheap for what it is.
— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) January 6, 2016
Especially the fact that we in Europe are paying even more than Americans annoys many, like the YouTuber TotalBiscuit. Palmer’s defense: These are the taxes that apply in Europe; there’s nothing we can do about it.
@Totalbiscuit European cost is because we are required to include taxes. We are not unfairly inflating the price like many consoles.
— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) January 6, 2016
Will HTC’s Vive be cheaper? Is Sony the big winner?
If you are now hoping that HTC and Valve will announce a significantly lower price for the Vive headset, you shouldn’t have too many hopes. Because HTC is certainly going to align itself with the price of the Oculus Rift. Moreover, the company has already stated beforehand that one should expect a “premium price.” VR gaming is – at least in its initial stages – still a rather expensive affair.
Some market observers believe that the big winner of the last hour could be Sony. They might target a mass market with their virtual reality solution and set the price lower.
