Pricing is a hot topic amongst the virtual reality (VR) community right now, but that’s largely concerned with the head-mounted displays (HMDs) themselves. It’s still not clear how much the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR kits will cost when they launch over the next several months. There isn’t as much talk, however, about the prospect of software pricing, and if VR support will add to the cost of videogames. It’s a worrying possibility but, as The Assembly creator nDreams assures, VR videogame prices aren’t likely to be higher than what consumers pay for normal titles.
Company CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh said as much in a recent interview from EGX 2015 with GamesIndustry.biz. “In terms of games, nobody will be shocked,” he said of software pricing. “We’re expecting to price our games at what you would expect for that sort of game on Steam, PlayStation or Xbox. You won’t be shocked that games are suddenly much more expensive.” nDreams has of course already released 2 VR titles onto the Gear VR mobile HMD in both Gunner and Perfect Beach. The latter cost $2.99 USD, though it is important to remember that these were mobile experiences.
This will no doubt come as a relief to many VR fans, especially with other teams are planning to follow this same rule. With VR requiring extra time and resources to successfully implement, some developers could still possibly put up the prices of their projects, but it seems at least is if nDreams won’t be doing so. The Assembly is on its way to each of the 3 major PC and console-based HMDs, and is aiming to be ready for each one’s launch, starting with the HTC Vive towards the end of this year and then the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR following early into 2016.
VRFocus will continue to follow each and every VR videogame, reporting back with the latest updates on them.
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