Oculus Rift News And Updates: $200 Price Cut Confirmed, HTC Vive Next?

The Oculus Rift will be taking a price cut in an effort to reach a wider audience and increase sales. VR's high entry price is certainly one of the factors the new technology that keeps consumers from making a purchase.

Consumers and reviewers were generally impressed by the Oculus Rift's technology but criticized the huge investment needed for a VR-capable machine. Besides the expensive headset, early users also required a high-end gaming PC in order to use the Oculus Rift.

A $200 price cut will certainly help the Oculus Rift's case and make it a more appealing purchase according to Polygon. The Oculus Rift headset is currently priced at $599 will now be sold at $499. The essential Touch controls accessory will also be $100 taking price cut which makes it $99 for a pair.

Moreover, for players who want to experience room scale VR by adding a third sensor, the accessory will take a $20 price cut which makes it $59. All in all, the Oculus Rift with room scale VR capabilities will cost around $660. The price cut will make the Oculus Rift around $150 cheaper than the HTC Vive that has similar capabilities.

Oculus Rift's closest rival, the HTC Vive, is outselling the Rift with almost twice the amount. Analyst estimates that the Rift has sold around 243,000 units while the Vive has sold 420,000 units according to MCV. Meanwhile, the PS VR which is the newest of the three headsets has sold more than 1 million units.

The Oculus Rift has fallen behind its competitors despite being first in the VR scene. A price cut is hardly surprising given the huge investment Facebook made for the technology.

With PS VR's huge success, the price is certainly a huge factor for the technology. Of the three headsets, the PS VR is the cheapest of the three coming in at $400 per headset. It's no coincidence that it's currently the best-selling VR. The Oculus Rift may be trying to capture the same success PS VR has with the recent price cut.

On the other hand, the HTC Vive will certainly not sit still with Oculus Rift announcing price cuts. If Oculus Rift begins to gain momentum and catches up on the Vive's sales, expect them to match Oculus' price to prevent that from happening.