14 DAY TRIAL // The long awaited consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is going to end up costing over $350/€350, according to Oculus boss Palmer Luckey, due to the emphasis on quality. The end version might rival the current Xbox One, which costs $350/€350, or the PS4 ($400/€400).
Oculus kicked off the virtual reality revolution with the prototype Rift headset, and since then, it's been working hard to construct the consumer version of the device, which is expected to go on sale at the beginning of 2016.
While the actual design seems to be set in stone, there are still plenty of variables, chief among which is the actual cost of the device. Oculus executives have offered ever increasing estimates, starting as low as $200/€200 and escalating to $300/€300.
Oculus boss expects a price tag of over $350/€350
Now, while talking with RoadtoVR, Oculus boss Palmer Luckey elevates the price estimate to around $350/€350 and even leaves room for another increase, which would end up making just the Oculus Rift headset cost about as much as a current-generation console like the Xbox One (current retail price $350/€350) or a PS4 ($400/€400).
The main reasoning, according to Luckey, is that he and his team want to do things right and ensure that the Rift lives up to the expectations of consumers from all around the world. If the team tried to hit affordable prices, the quality of the virtual reality experience might not end up delighting users.
"It’s just the reality that when you make this thing you have to decide what tradeoffs you’re going to make," Luckey explains. "Are you going to optimize for absolute lowest price possible, even if it’s going to be a lower quality experience? Or do you try to say 'you know what, this is the first consumer VR headset that were going to be pushing out to people. We need to put a stake in the ground and say: this is the best possible experience that we were able to make. No compromises were made in terms of quality'."
As of yet, other potential rivals for the Rift, like the HTC Vive or Sony's PlayStation VR, haven't received their price tags either, so it's unclear just how the consumer version of the Oculus device will compare to them.