Facebook has slashed the price of its Oculus Rift headset and motion controllers again, as the gaming market continues to show signs of hesitation in embracing the VR system.
The virtual reality headset and the Oculus Touch motion controllers bundle sells for just under [$770 or £600].
But for six weeks from Monday the cost has been discounted by a third to around [$515 or £400].
It is the second time this year Oculus’ price has been reduced. In March the bundle’s price was slashed by [about $180 or £140].
Before the discounts, the headset, which offers a 360-degree panoramic view, was described as “obscenely cheap” by its founder, Palmer Luckey.
But unlike consoles, the Rift cannot be used by itself — it requires a powerful gaming computer, which could set consumers back more than [about $1,300 or £1,000].
Oculus’ vice president of content Jason Rubin said the latest sale is aimed at people who “may have been sitting on the sideline because of price”, according to The Verge.
Mr. Rubin also attempted to placate fears that the current model of the Rift would be quickly made redundant by the development of a new, potentially lighter and cheaper model.
“Somebody who goes out and buys a Rift (on sale) is not going to find themselves with hardware that’s outdated any time soon,” he said.
“The Rift is going to be driving a lot of enjoyment for people for many years.”
The relatively slow speed at which Oculus has managed to ship units will not have delighted its parent company Facebook, which acquired the company for $2bn in 2014.
At the time Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said that the medium would “become a part of daily life for billions of people”.
However that has not happened – and it is unclear if that is because of high prices, something inherent in the technology…