Oculus announced that from August onward all models of the Quest 2 will be more expensive. Specifically, the Meta Quest 2’s price will increase by $100. The 128GB version will go from $299 USD to $399 USD while the 256GB version will increase to $499 USD.
In the blog post announcing these changes, Facebook Reality Labs, formerly known as Oculus, provided an explanation as to why. The virtual reality hardware developer claims that “the costs to make and ship [its] products have been on the rise.” The raise in Quest 2 prices is to counteract these costs.
The lone positive of this change is that the Meta Quest 2 will now come bundled with the VR rhythm game Beat Saber. Beat Saber is the best-selling game on the Oculus Store and is widely considered the best virtual reality game. Although given that it only retails at $29.99 USD, that still leaves consumers $70 worse off.
Future Meta Quest 2 owners are unlikely to be impressed by Reality Labs’ boasting. Despite trying to justify the price hike, Reality Labs also highlights how “VR’s momentum is undeniable,” and that consumers have spent “over $1 billion,” on Meta Quest apps. With the Meta Quest 2 performing so well, it makes you question if the price hike is actually necessary.
The positive spin
No one likes to pay more for anything, but there is another positive change coming to the Meta Quest 2. Starting in August, the Meta Quest 2 will no longer require you to have Facebook account to use it. This was a big problem that a lot of people had in the past due to Facebook’s historically questionable handling of personal data. Also, even after the increased price, the Meta Quest 2 still offers a good value in comparison to its competitors. Other competing headsets can cost anywhere between $100 USD to $500 USD more than the Quest 2.
Published: Jul 26, 2022 03:30 pm