• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Fortune 500

Facebook Is Slashing the Price of Oculus Rift VR Headset Again

By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 10, 2017, 3:01 AM ET

Facebook is dropping the price of its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset—at least temporarily.

The social network’s virtual reality business unit Oculus is holding a six-week summer sale of its flagship headset starting Monday. During the sale, the Rift and its accompanying touch controller will cost $400 instead of $600 for the two items.

The momentary price cut follows a previous price cut in March, when Facebook permanently lowered the Rift’s cost to $500 and its motion controllers to $100, instead of $200.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

At least for the time being, Facebook’s Oculus Rift is now the cheapest high-end VR headset on the market when bundled with a motion controller. The HTC Vive costs $800 and includes motion controllers while the Sony PlayStation VR costs $400, but does not include motion controllers and a mandatory sensor camera—those extras bump the PlayStation VR’s price to $460.

“This is a good time to test a mass-market price,” said Oculus vice president of content Jason Rubin, regarding the summer season when people have time off from work and more time for play.

Since high-end VR headsets like the Vive and Rift first debuted a year ago, sales of VR headsets have generally been underwhelming. Although HTC and Facebook don’t reveal sales of their headsets, research firms like Superdata estimated that the two companies sold 420,00 and 243,000 of their headsets respectively in 2016.

Sony, however, said in June that it had sold over one million PlayStation VR headsets since they debuted in October.

Among some of the reasons analysts believe VR headsets haven’t been a big hit with consumers is because of the high-price of the headsets that require powerful computers to operate. The PlayStation VR, it should be noted, requires a PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 4 Pro console to function.

Rubin agrees with the sentiment that the high price of VR headsets make them less attractive to buy.

“What we learned with the [March] price cuts is that price matters,” said Rubin, who declined to say how many headsets Oculus has sold since those price cuts.

Will This Be the Year That VR Finally Goes Mainstream?

Rubin also declined to share statistics that indicate whether more people are using the Rift than before or specific details about how their usage has been changing. However, Rubin said there has been an “an acceleration of sales that has maintained” and that, anecdotally, Oculus has observed that more people are using their Rift devices and playing more games.

Rubin explained that there are now more VR games available on the Oculus platform than when it first debuted, which should make it more compelling for consumers.

“The world looks at this and says ‘why didn’t you get millions of units into homes last year?’” said Rubin. “My answer: A lot of these would be in the closet,” he said referring to the notion that there wasn’t enough compelling VR content last year to keep people engaged.

He said Oculus is working with big-name gaming publishers like Ubisoft and Epic Games on VR titles, which means there will be more big titles hitting Oculus in the near future, like a recent game based on the latest Spiderman movie.

“Content drives this kind of business,” said Rubin. “It’s not a fan where you turn it on and it works.”

Oculus will be watching how the summer price cut performs before it makes a decision to permanently drops the price, Rubin explained.

This article contains affiliate links.

About the Author
By Jonathan Vanian
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Latest in

NewslettersMPW Daily
Why women’s rise to the top of business is stalling
By Emma HinchliffeDecember 23, 2025
19 minutes ago
SuccessWealth
The average worker would need to save for 52 years to claw their way of of the middle class and be classified as wealthy, new research reveals
By Orianna Rosa RoyleDecember 23, 2025
25 minutes ago
ChatGPT Atlas illustration.
AISecurity
OpenAI says AI browsers like ChatGPT Atlas may never be fully secure from hackers—and experts say the risks are ‘a feature not a bug’
By Beatrice NolanDecember 23, 2025
30 minutes ago
Workplace CultureMost Powerful Women
Women’s steady climb to CEO jobs and board seats is stalling. A perfect storm of politics, economic uncertainty, and changing career norms is the reason why
By Claire ZillmanDecember 23, 2025
31 minutes ago
Charlie Javice, wearing a white blazer, walks and adjusts her sunglasses, looking to the side.
Lawfraud
Disgraced millennial Frank founder Charlie Javice hits JPMorgan with $74 million legal bill, including $530 in gummy bears and $347 ‘afternoon snack’
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 23, 2025
31 minutes ago
SuccessSmall Business
10 crucial insights for small business owners to succeed in 2026—and beyond
By Ashley LutzDecember 23, 2025
2 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
Billionaire philanthropy's growing divide: Mark Zuckerberg stops funding immigration reform as MacKenzie Scott doubles down on DEI
By Ashley LutzDecember 22, 2025
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: 'You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness'
By Sydney LakeDecember 22, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Travel & Leisure
After pouring $450 million into Florida real estate, Larry Ellison plans to lure the ultrarich to an exclusive town just minutes from Mar-a-Lago
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 22, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
Meet a 55-year-old automotive technician in Arkansas who didn’t care if his kids went to college: ‘There are options’
By Muskaan ArshadDecember 21, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Mitt Romney says the U.S. is on a cliff—and taxing the rich is now necessary 'given the magnitude of our national debt'
By Dave SmithDecember 22, 2025
24 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Multimillionaire musician Will.i.am says work-life balance is for people ‘working on someone else’s dream’ and not for visionaries—he grinds from 5-to-9 after his 9-to-5
By Orianna Rosa RoyleDecember 21, 2025
2 days ago