Meta introduced at this time one thing that we haven’t beforehand seen occur in the course of a VR headset’s lifecycle—a value improve for Quest 2. To melt the blow, the corporate says it’s going to embrace a free copy of the headset’s hottest sport.
When Quest 2 launched again in late 2020, it did so at $300; a value level $100 lower than its predecessor, and considerably lower than most main headsets available on the market. That’s because of Meta closely subsidizing the headset in an effort to unfold VR to the plenty.
Nicely, that technique has labored, and perhaps a bit too properly. Meta is believed to have been promoting Quest 2 at a value considerably lower than it truly prices to make and ship to prospects—that means that as the corporate sells extra headsets it losses extra money. The hope is that this loss can be recouped via the 30% payment charged to builders.
However now Meta says it has change into costlier to construct and promote Quest 2, which has solely elevated the losses the corporate is incurring because it sells headsets.
In an obvious effort to make issues extra sustainable, Meta at this time introduced it’s rising the value of Quest 2 by $100—that’s $400 for the 128GB mannequin and $500 for the 256GB mannequin—the identical value as the unique Quest headset.
“By adjusting the value of Quest 2, we will proceed to develop our funding in groundbreaking analysis and new product improvement that pushes the VR business to new heights,” the corporate stated.
The value improve doesn’t take impact till August, so if you happen to have been planning to purchase a Quest 2 within the close to future that is your final likelihood to choose one up on the present value level.
To melt the blow a bit, for the primary time ever Meta is bundling the headset with its hottest sport, Beat Saber, for brand spanking new Quest 2 purchases via the top of 2022. That’s a $30 worth, and considerably fascinating as a result of Beat Saber has by no means gone on sale or been bundled with the headset.
It’s odd to see the value of a product improve in the course of its lifecycle, however world inflation definitely doesn’t bode properly for backed merchandise. To be truthful, Quest 2 has been improved in manifold methods since launch, and the corporate even doubled the storage on the identical value level—from 64GB to 128GB for the bottom mannequin, and from 128GB to 256GB for the highest mannequin—for which firms often cost a $100 premium anyway. Whatever the value hike, Quest 2 continues to be one of the crucial inexpensive headsets available on the market with a value that’s nonetheless robust for others to beat.