The HTC Vive has been slowly creeping into third-party retailers around the world over the past few months and now it’s come to the UK’s biggest specialist games seller, GAME.
The device is on sale through the company’s website for £689 (about $920). That’s a good deal more expensive that then $799 US price tag, though it’s not anything new; Vive has been sold at that price via HTC’s official site since its initial launch a few months ago. You’ll still get Tilt Brush, Fantastic Contraption, and Job Simulator for free from ordering through the site, and you can even take advantage of a free click and collect service and go and pick your unit up in-store. It doesn’t look like any stores have stock themselves, however.
For reward card owners, picking up a Vive through GAME will net you 5512 points, which could get you £13.78 off of your next purchase. That might be another free game for the headset if you pick up a Steam gift card.
It’s still not possible to purchase an Oculus Rift through the site, only ‘Register Your Interest’ for one. That said, the company is taking pre-orders on the upcoming PlayStation VR. There’s no guarantee that pre-ordering a unit will get you one on launch day, October 13th, at this point in time, sadly. You can also pick up a Merge VR mobile headset at GAME.
It’s good to see Vive starting to branch out and arrive at a wider array of stores across the globe. Doing so will increase awareness of the device, as not many people were likely to just casually stumble across the kit by browsing HTC’s own store. Still, the high price point and a reliance – though not a dependence – on Room-Scale user tracking is likely to put off more casual fans that go to GAME; the Vive remains very much an enthusiast item as long as it costs so much. Let’s hope that changes soon.
If you need any extras for the kit then you can head to the newly-opened Vive store. It offers extra controllers, tracking sensors and more, though many of those items are sold out right now.
