Hoping to breathe some life into the virtual reality market, Oculus said it is cutting the price of the Oculus Rift VR headset and its Touch controller by $200 to $400 for a limited time.
The “Summer of Rift” promotion combines the Oculus Rift headset with the Oculus Touch hand controllers for $400. The Rift had a previous price of $500 while the Touch was $100. The promotion is “all about celebrating the VR community and encouraging new people to get in the game,” according to Oculus VR, the VR division of Facebook.
Oculus bills the Rift as “VR at its finest,” with its PC-tethered headset, wide field of view, and high-resolution OLED displays that make you feel like you’ve been transported into a virtual world. The Touch controllers let you grab and throw objects in VR by using your hands.
Oculus is also touting its big games, such as Batman: Arkham VR, Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Robo Recall, and Wilson’s Heart. It also has a big one launching: Echo Arena, a multiplayer competitive sci-fi game debuting on July 20 from Ready At Dawn Studios. The game also has a single-player campaign, dubbed Lone Echo.
The Rift has more than 500 titles available, but sales of VR units have been slower than expected. Clearly, Facebook is still willing to invest in VR by cutting the price of the high-end PC VR platform.