In order to push the first virtual reality headset that Oculus released to the public, Facebook teamed up with Best Buy to set up some 500 pop-up stores at an equal number of Best Buy locations across the country. They might have done enough to cater to the initial hype surrounding the Oculus Rift headset but according to a new report, there has been underwhelming interest from the public regarding this pop-ups recently which is why Facebook has decided to close 200 out of the 500 Oculus pop-ups that it set up in Best Buy locations across the United States.
Business Insider hears that things were so bad in some locations where staff at the pop-ups would go days without even giving a single demonstration because people just weren’t interested in trying out the Rift.
Facebook first rolled out the Oculus Rift headsets to 48 Best Buy locations for demonstrations in May last year and then expanded these demonstration kiosks to 500 Best Buy stores by August 2016.
Oculus doesn’t agree with that, though, as it says that it’s only making “seasonal changes” and that demonstrations are being prioritized at countless Best Buy locations in larger markets. Oculus spokeswoman Andrea Schubert did confirm the closures, nevertheless, but pointed out that “You can still request Rift demos at hundreds of Best Buy stores in the US and Canada.”
Filed in . Read more about Facebook, Oculus, Oculus Rift and Virtual Reality (VR).