Oculus VR faces a consumer revolt as the Rift heads to retail
Oculus has some good news and some bad news, virtual reality fans.
The good: If you've been looking to purchase a Rift headset of your very own, you'll have your chance to do just that online via Amazon or the Microsoft Store starting May 6 -- and in 48 Best Buy stores starting May 7. You'll even have an opportunity to try it before you buy, if that's your thing.
You May Also Like
The bad news applies specifically to those still waiting on a Rift pre-order: Retail availability is happening before all pre-orders have shipped. That means the Rift order you placed as far back as January might still be processing even as your friend down the block goes out and buys one on a whim.
Now understand, that's not going to be common. Oculus says outright that only "a small number of Rifts" will be available through retail channels "while we catch up on pre-orders."
Furthermore, anyone that pre-ordered a Rift has the option of picking one up at retail -- provided they can find it -- and getting the same pre-order bonuses that they signed up for back in January. All you need to do is let Oculus know after you make the purchase so your order can be canceled.
So it's not like retail availability will suddenly make it easier to obtain a Rift. But, as many customers have already pointed out, going to retail is not a good look for a company that's still struggling to meet demand for the earliest of early adopters.
Nowhere is this more evident than the Oculus subreddit, in which a post discussing the retail release has already garnered north of 1,000 comments -- almost all of them negative.
In fairness to Oculus, launching an expensive piece of hardware isn't easy, even for experienced companies -- just look at the shortages around smartphone and tablet releases. What's more, neither Oculus nor Facebook has ever faced hardware distribution on this scale. They're learning how to make this work in real time -- rather disastrously -- and customers can do nothing more than watch.
That said, Oculus has been astonishingly indifferent to customer concerns throughout this process. Communicating about component shortages and offering to fulfill pre-order bonuses for retail purchasers are welcome gestures, but what's lacking is any sense of concern from the company for an audience that is rapidly losing faith.
As many have pointed out, there's no sense of contrition from a company that has repeatedly left some of its earliest and most passionate customers disappointed. Even a simple "We're sorry" would be something, though what anxious pre-order buyers really deserve is a transparent explanation.
Neither of those things seem to be coming. Mashable reached out to Oculus for a statement on the uproar around the Rift's retail availability, but the company is going the "no comment" route for now.
Did you pre-order a Rift? Are you still waiting on it? How have the shipping delays and retail availability left you feeling?
Topics Gaming Oculus Virtual Reality Gadgets
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
