Oculus Rift hitting retailers in Europe, Canada
Retail partners open preorders; VR headsets arrive in brick-and-mortar locations September 20
Oculus this week stepped up its retail push for the Rift, opening up preorders at a variety of chains in Europe and Canada with a September 20 regional retail launch for the headset. The Rift is selling for £549/€699 in Europe and $849 in Canada, and comes packed with a copy of the 3D platformer Lucky's Tale, plus an assortment of 360-degree videos and VR movies.
While it will help the headset to have a retail presence, customers in Europe and Canada have been able to order the Rift directly from Oculus through the company's website since January. At the time, the Rift carried a £499 price in the UK, but that was before the currency took a sharp dive in the wake of the Brexit vote to split from the European Union.
In Canada, the Rift is being sold through Best Buy and the Microsoft Store website. Oculus has partnered with Amazon in the UK, France, and Germany, as well as chains like John Lewis, Curry's PC World, GAME, Harrods, FNAC, MediaMarkt, and Saturn. Some of those locations will also be hosting Oculus Rift demo experiences.
Oculus also provided a slight update on the Oculus Touch controllers, saying they would arrive at in-store demos worldwide this October, just as the company reveals more launch details for the controller at its Oculus Connect 3 show in San Jose.