The consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is expected to be launched in 2016. However when exactly in 2016 is anyone’s guess, but thanks to a recent tweet by Oculus VR’s founder Palmer Luckey, we have a potential timeframe that we can look forward to when it comes to pre-ordering the headset.
According to Luckey, “Preorders are coming soon after new year. Enjoy a stress-free holiday, we won’t launch preorders without warning!” Granted it is a bit vague, but based on what he said we can only imagine that it should be early 2016 when pre-orders for the Oculus Rift headset will open, although when the headsets actually start shipping is an entirely different story.
Unfortunately pricing of the headset is still anyone’s guess. Last we heard, it was suggested that the headset and a new PC capable of running it will set users back $1,500, but the price of the headset by itself was not revealed. Interestingly enough it seems that VR headset makers have all been rather coy with their pricing.
For example Sony stated that the PlayStation VR would be priced the same as a new gaming platform, and recently HTC’s CEO Cher Wang sort of teased the price of the HTC Vive when she stated that many of HTC’s engineers were agreeable with one of the possible price that she mentioned based on how much they earned.
It is possible that VR headset makers want to see how much the competition is pricing their product before deciding if they can afford to undercut them, kind of like Sony made a lot of headway in terms of sales of the PS4 when it was originally sold for $100 less than the Xbox One.
Filed in . Read more about Oculus Rift, Virtual Reality (VR) and Wearable Tech.