Finally an update on the Oculus Rift Kickstarter. The head mounted display that’s been… er… turning heads… has been teasing us with an upcoming Kickstarter campaign. The original plan was for it to go live in the middle of June but some exciting developments have happened since then. The Kickstarter was delayed due to these developments, but it’s actually been thanks to good news rather than bad — one bit of which is a lower price.

Palmer Luckey (aka PalmerTech), the mind behind the Oculus Rift, left an update today over at the MTBS3D forums and it’s nothing but good news. Originally, Luckey honed in on a $500 target price for the base Oculus Rift HMD. Today Luckey says that $500 will get you an even better bang for your buck: the HMD, head tracker, and a copy of Doom 3 for PC (which will fully support the Oculus Rift).

Luckey says that none of the delays are due to technical issues. Rather, it’s been timing and discussions with some big names in gaming that are very interested in the Oculus Rift. In particular, Luckey says that they wanted to delay the Kickstarter until the annual Quakecon and GamesCon. The Oculus Rift will be present at both conventions and Luckey hopes to generate a great amount of interest in the Kickstarter. This is a logical move thanks to John Carmack’s involvement in getting the Oculus Rift noticed by demoing it at E3.

So, that’s the latest on the Oculus Rift HMD Kickstarter. I’ll be watching carefully for the very latest so stop back to stay up to date.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • neotechni

    Its july 20th, where’s the kickstarter?

    • Ben Lang

      Palmer said he had to fly up to Washington (possibly visiting with MS or Valve) and thus had to delay it a bit more. Should definitely go live prior to August.

      • neotechni

        I wish it was a PS3 copy of Doom 3. I cant use the PC one…