Did you know you could rent and purchase movies through your Oculus Rift? Like normal, big blockbusters and the like? Well, you could… until yesterday.
Amid news that former CEO Brendan Iribe was parting ways with the company, Oculus sent out an email to Rift owners letting them know that they would no longer be able to purchase and rent movies on their headset. Anyone that purchased any such content over the past two and a half years will have that money reimbursed, which probably tells you how many people actually used it.
The email sent to Rift owners reads: “Over the years, we’ve seen how people use VR for everything from gaming to movies, and it’s become clear that while people love to stream immersive media on other devices, Rift is used primarily for gaming. These insights inform how we support new and existing features and apps across the platform.”
Movie rentals and purchases were first introduced for Gear VR at an Oculus Connect keynote a few years back, allowing you to watch the latest releases on a virtual screen. It’s not clear if this closure also extends to Gear VR, but Variety reports that they are being kept alive on Oculus Go. We’ve reached out to Oculus to clarify.
Either way, there’s still plenty to watch on your Rift, be it 360-degree videos or full VR movies as well as traditional content from apps like Hulu.
Are you upset at the loss of movie rentals and purchases on Rift? Or did you ever even buy anything?
