Want an Oculus Rift but don’t want to wait till July? Or, maybe you just want to try it out to see just how much of the VR hype is true? Well, consumers are about to get the chance, starting on May 7, when the Oculus Rift goes on sale at Best Buy, alongside Rift demo stations which will allow users to try out the cutting-edge VR experience from Facebook-owned Oculus.
According to The Verge, however, Best Buy’s retail chains will have a “very limited” supply of the Oculus Rift to go around, so it’s likely they’ll sell out fast, which may be a relief for some pre-order customers who still have yet to receive their Oculus Rift headsets. Otherwise, they might be incentivized to cancel their pre-orders and just pick one up down at Best Buy.
Additionally, a small number of Oculus Rift headsets will also be sold on Amazon and through Microsoft stores. Oculus has been careful to temper expectations, stressing just how few of the Rift headsets will head to store shelves before all the pre-orders have been fulfilled.
Still, it’s a big move for Oculus and good news for the Rift. Many VR proponents have argued strongly that it’s impossible to know what it’s like before trying it out yourself, and with the Oculus Rift occupying demo stations in Best Buy locations throughout the U.S., it’s likely the company can expect an uptick in pre-orders even if the Rift headsets sell out quickly at select retail locations.
The partnership between Best Buy and Oculus will no doubt drive interest in the budding VR marketplace, but according to The Verge it’s unlikely that many consumers will get their hands on the Rift at a Best Buy location. Oculus has reportedly scaled down the number of Rift headsets shipping to retail location to the bare minimum until their pre-order obligations are met.
“We had always planned for retail to come after launch, but we pushed it out as far as we could extend our partnership with retailers. We also scaled units down to very small numbers until we catch up with preorders,” an Oculus spokesperson told The Verge .
Anticipating massive demand for the Oculus Rift demo stations , Best Buy is reportedly allowing visitors to schedule times to use the demo stations – as far out as a month in advance. While users have been able to try out the Samsung Gear VR at Best Buy for a while now, the Oculus Rift is a different animal entirely. The experience is much more polished, much more interactive, and a great deal more immersive – and expensive.
Oculus Rift delays flatten virtual-reality fan fervor https://t.co/hk5yVxZ7HR #vr pic.twitter.com/m2c92j94No
— Rick King (@RickKing16) May 2, 2016
The Oculus Rift retails for $599, and requires a top-of-the-line PC in order to meet the minimum system requirements for the premium VR headset.
Today’s announcement comes after months of difficulties for Oculus, as the Rift launch was less than smooth and many customers have canceled their pre-orders of the VR headset as a result. Shipping delays, component shortages, and pre-orders being rescheduled have caused Oculus to receive a bit of criticism from the tech media and from customers alike.
“We know that many preorder customers are still waiting for their Rifts, so we’re offering those customers a chance to purchase Rift from retail instead,” an Oculus spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal .
Still, as of this week, Best Buy customers will at least be able to try out the Oculus Rift in person to decide for themselves if waiting for a pre-order or trying to snag one of the limited quantities available on Amazon is worth the trouble. For a platform still in its infancy, though, it’s going to be a very good thing for the company to get the Oculus Rift in as many hands as possible – even if only at the Best Buy demo stations.
You can check if there’s an Oculus demo coming to a Best Buy near you right here .
[Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]
