STARTING MARCH 28, THE OCULUS RIFT WILL SHIP TO VIRTUAL REALITY FANATICS WHO ARE WILLING TO SPEND A PRETTY PENNY ON THE HEADSET.
The Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset that has finally come to fruition more than three years after debuting on Kickstarter, will cost prospective consumers $599 and begins shipping March 28. As announced earlier this week, the Facebook-owned virtual reality company started accepting pre-orders for the Rift this morning.
At launch, the headset will ship to 20 countries; the Rift will also be available in select retail locations starting in April. Oculus previously revealed that the device will include an Xbox One controller, remote, and the game Lucky’s Tale. Pre-orders will come with an additional free game, EVE: Valkyrie. In a blog post, Oculus notes that “dozens of full-length, AAA games designed for VR are coming to Rift, with more than 100 titles available by the end of 2016, including Minecraft!”
Since the headset requires a powerful PC, those who need an upgraded computer can pre-order an “Oculus Ready PC” and Rift for $1,499, as of next month. (That rate will not be made available to those who pre-order a Rift beforehand.)
The Rift is just one of three upscale consumer headsets that are set to launch this year, including HTC’s Vive and Sony’s PlayStation VR.
Oculus CEO Palmer Luckey will field questions—and likely many complaints about the Rift’s price—during an “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit at 9 p.m. ET tonight.
