Facebook today confirmed to UploadVR that it has permanently cut the price of the 32GB Oculus Go headset from $199/£199 down to $149/£139.
Listings on both the official Oculus Store and Amazon just started showing these new prices, and Facebook confirmed that this isn’t part of a sale or promotional price. The 64GB model, meanwhile, is now priced at $199/£189.
Oculus Go Price Cut Confirmed
Facebook issued UploadVR the following statement: “Oculus Go is now priced at $149 USD, which is equal to a $50 price drop. We are applying comparable discounts across all countries where Go is sold. Updated pricing is rolling out to all channels.”
Oculus Go is Facebook’s low-cost standalone VR headset. It includes all you need to jump straight into VR experiences but only includes primitive three degrees of freedom (3DOF) tracking. This allows you to turn and tilt your head in VR, but not physically move it around in virtual space. Go also includes one 3DOF motion controller for pointing inside games and experiences.
While it might be tempting to jump at this Oculus Go price cut, it’s important to note that Go provides a very limited VR experience compared to the $399 standalone Oculus Quest. The price may now be more than double that of the Go, but Quest provides full six degrees of freedom (6DOF) tracking for two hands and your head, allowing for much more immersive VR experiences.
Oculus Go’s social features are also becoming increasingly limited. Facebook no longer supports the Rooms software that previously let Go and Gear VR owners meet up to play games and share content. Plus Facebook Horizon, the company’s latest attempt at a sprawling social VR platform, doesn’t list Go under its supported platforms. For now we only know the app supports Rift and Quest.
Even with this price cut in mind, then, it’s tough to recommend Oculus Go in 2020. Will you pick one up? Let us know in the comments below!
