Oculus Rift Games Could Cost More Than Average
Games that support Oculus Rift could be more expensive.
Should games supporting Oculus Rift cost more than the unsupported versions? That's a question we'll see answered hopefully sometime this year.
Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe noted that as a hardware vendor, there's not much they could do about the prices of games that support the Rift, but he wouldn't be surprised to see a premium price tag stapled to the premium experience.
"It's going to be up to the developers," he told Gamesindustry International. "There will be some who make casual, simpler experiences - maybe bite sized. There are going to be Indie developers that make bigger experiences. And there are going to be bigger teams that make really big experiences. ... And some that we've seen early prototypes of... Well, we've seen some that, boy, would I pay a lot to get that experience in virtual reality."
Aaron Davies, director of developer relations at Oculus, added that in VR, objects suddenly have value, and that there will be opportunities for developers to monetize them. But how much will gamers be willing to pay? As Gamesindustry points out, gamers are still feeling the bite of moving up from $50 to $60 USD. They even retaliated when EA tried to jack the price up to $70.
But will support for VR be worth a rise in price? Iribe sees the rise of VR not as an extension of the PC, but a beast all in itself much like the first GPUs in the mid-1990s. VR support will be a game changer bringing an entirely new experience.
"This is the next generation of computing in a very big way," he said. "This is something that's going to change so many things."
So if there will be premium prices, does that mean games will likely cost more than $60? Davies doesn't think so, noting free-to-play games that make revenue easier to gain than slapping players with one huge price tag. The whole concept of charging a premium is somewhat outdated, he said.
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"If people are willing to spend a lot of money on VR games, it obviously means we're doing something right," says Iribe.
To read the full interview, head here.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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el_bastardo74 If it does go up, I won't be purchasing an Oculus or any Oculus supported games. The price of big titles are already way too much.Reply -
hfitch here's the thing I would pay any price for a complete game but developers havent been for a long time. I mean pay 60 dollars for a game then add a ton of dlc that tac's on another 30 bucks that should of been in the game from the start. I'm sorry we don't have endless cash sitting around our house. So I wait for a game that's truly worth buying then I buy it. The rest I wait for a steam sale or bargain bin. The last game I bought that I got ripped off by was Rage what a piece of crap game.Reply -
lazykoala I'm not even willing to pay $60 for "AAA" games for any system now! What makes them think people will pay $70+ for VR games? I always wait as long as possible before buying games I want and that's usually when they go down at least half the price. If there is a must have new release with some great bonuses I may pre-order, but other than that no way. This oculus VR thing will clearly cater to those who have big pocket books and money to throw around...not the average consumer.Reply -
giovanni86 Well there goes there only hope of selling the OR. I'm not saying this pointless for them, but a price hike on games would deter me all together. I hardly even like paying $65 and some times $150 if you get the CE ones. Then like others have mentioned all the DLC, u end up paying well over $100-200 just for one game. Good luck on the price hikes i will stick to steam at $20 dollar triple A indie games :)Reply -
Antimatter79 My average purchase price for games is usually $5, maybe $7.50 if I'm feeling like being a baller. (Thank you, Steam!) However, I do think if a game is well made, complete, and offers lots of hours of great gaming, then the price could be justified, but we just aren't seeing a lot of that these days. Even Skyrim, which was fairly good, was only truly great because of all the mods that players created. I feel that another issue is rehashing content with annual release games with hardly any single player content, and expecting the gamers to create their own experiences through half-baked, unstable, buggy multiplayer. If a game is only fun with friends, then why should premium prices be paid? Friends are free.Reply -
The_Trutherizer There will be OR games at all price points. I'll say this though. I'll never buy a game for $50 again. Possibly not even $40. I've had too many disappointments with lacklustre AAA titles without an ounce of imagination or innovation. This all while some really amazing indie games have kept me gaming for hours. If I had cash lying around to spend $50-$60 on an hour or two of play then I'd rather just go to a strip club and get ripped off there.Face it AAA title sales are mostly dependent on people who are more concerned with peer pressure than actual gaming. Oh yeah... And kids who whine their parent's ears off for the money.Reply -
maxiim We should first look into getting publishers to start supporting their games with free DLCs, not asking 60$ a year for unfinished crap, plus another 60 for DLCs that improve the game to what it should have been in the beginning. I highly doubt that it will be any different with oculus rift, only issues is that there are idiots willing to pay 60$ a year for the same unfinished PoS, instead of developers getting smarter going backwards and looking to develop GOOD games not just cash cows every 12months.Reply -
SoiledBottom "I'd rather just go to a strip club and get ripped off there"Putting a group together for a raid party.(sends invite to Trutherizer)Soiled :)Reply