According to Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe, it would not be a surprise to see Oculus Rift games cost above $60. The CEO also stated that Oculus will not have a say in how much a company with Oculus enhanced games will charge, and would not be surprised if these games came at a ‘premium price’.
It’s going to be up to the developers, There will be some who make casual, simpler experiences – maybe bite sized. There are going to be Indie developers that make bigger experiences. And there are going to be bigger teams that make really big experiences. … And some that we’ve seen early prototypes of… Well, we’ve seen some that, boy, would I pay a lot to get that experience in virtual reality.
He also made a point of saying that raising prices must reflect the quality of the game.
They’d better deliver if they’re going to charge more than $50 or $60 for a game
Aaron Davies, who is the director of developer relations, agreed and said the following.
In VR, suddenly objects have value – and scale and size and depth and I think there will be opportunities for developers to monetize them.
Arron says that if higher prices are to come, they shouldn’t be done in a “clumsy fashion”. He highlighted the free-to-play method, which is where transactions are implemented.
“The whole concept of charging a premium is somewhat outdated, It’s ot to say it’s going to be upfront. It could be this is going to be an experience you get dialed into. We’ll see how it monetizes. … If you create content or an experience that someone is passionate about, you’re creating a lifestyle for them. And they’ll pay for that.
If people are willing to spend a lot of money on VR games, it obviously means we’re doing something right.
Brendan Iribe went on to say that pricing in the gaming industry has a tenancy to change. Iribe’s vision of virtual reality isn’t as an extension of PC gaming, but as a door for them to move in the opposite direction.
VR is a fundamentally different experience, This is the next generation of computing in a very big way. … This is something that’s going to change so many things
Source: NeoGAF
