Oculus Rift and Touch bundle get a permanent price drop

Get ready to pay less - but also more - for an Oculus Rift and Touch bundle, at least if you live in the US.

Oculus is permanently lowering the price of the Rift headset and Touch controller combo to $499, the company announced today. However, this is a new price that takes effect after the Summer of Rift sale is over.

During the sale, happening right now, you can buy an Oculus Rift and Touch controller bundle for $399 / £399, $200 off its everyday price. This is only for the next six weeks, however.

After the sale runs its course, instead of going back up to its pre-sale price of $598 in the US, the Rift and Touch bundle cost will increase by just $99. 

In short: Buy an Oculus Rift and Touch bundle now, pay $399. Wait six weeks, and you'll pay $499.

The bundle includes a Rift headset, two sensors, two Touch controllers, cables and six free games that work with Touch - Lucky's Tale, Medium, Toybox, Quill, Dead and Buried and Robo Recall.

We're waiting on word from Oculus whether there's a permanent Rift and Touch bundle price drop happening in the UK, and we'll update this story if we hear back.

Priced to sell?

The Oculus Rift price has been making downward moves ever since it launched at $599 / £549. That was just for the headset; Touch controllers cost an additional $199 / £189 when they went on sale. 

Earlier this year, Oculus introduced a new headset plus controllers price of $598 / £598. Then just this week, the Facebook-owned company launched its Summer of Rift sale, bringing the Oculus Rift and Touch controllers price to $399 / £399.

Sales during this discounted period are good, Oculus says, but $399 / £399 is apparently unsustainable, hence the minor-ish price hike on the horizon.

All this could be a way for Facebook and Oculus to clear out some Rift inventory as the companies are rumored to launch a new, sub-$200 standalone headset next year. While not a full-fat VR experience, this headset will reportedly sit somewhere in between the lower and higher ends. Best of all, it won't require hooking up to a PC or smartphone. 

Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle was previously a news editor at TechRadar, leading consumer tech news and reviews. Michelle is now a Content Strategist at Facebook.  A versatile, highly effective content writer and skilled editor with a keen eye for detail, Michelle is a collaborative problem solver and covered everything from smartwatches and microprocessors to VR and self-driving cars.