Oculus Rift UK Release Date Set For September 20

The Oculus Rift’s UK release date has been officially set for UK and European retail stores, with consumers able to pick one up from September 20 from Amazon.co.uk, John Lewis, Curry’s PC World, Game Digital PLC and the London department store Harrods.

Owned by Facebook, the Oculus Rift is probably the most popular virtual reality headset currently on the market. While VR isn’t exactly a new concept, the Rift helped consumers rekindle their love with the technology – with Oculus able to demonstrate the true immersive technologies of VR.

While the Rift is set to be one of the most popular VR headsets on the market, there are many limitations to the system that could cause costs to spiral out of control. The suggested retail price of an Rift in the UK and Europe is £549 and €699, respectively. That price doesn’t include the cost of a gaming PC, which is required to get up and going with the Rift.

For users wanting to enjoy a VR experience, without the significant expense, then Sony’s alternative could be the way forward. Sony recently set a date for its PlayStation VR event; which should be launched on September 7. PlayStation VR is expected to be an affordable alternative to the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, offering PlayStation 4 owners the ability to enjoy VR content without having to buy any additional hardware (other than the headset itself).

While a whole host of UK stores are set to stock the Rift, the VR headset will also be available across continental Europe. Amazon.fr and FNAC have both signed up to stock the device in France, while Amazon.de, MediaMarkt and Saturn have committed to selling the Rift in Germany. Oculus is also expanding into Canadian retail for the first time, with Best Buy and Microsoft Store Online set to stock the Rift in Canada.

Not only will users be able to purchase the Rift from these retail partners, but those wanting to experience the Oculus Rift for the first time will also be able to make a trip to some of these stores for a demo. It’s expected that over 600 retail locations across the US, Canada and Europe will be available by autumn 2016.

Those wishing to purchase the Oculus Rift will gain access to hundreds of free 3D 360 videos and VR movies. The headset also ships with the popular VR platformer Lucky’s Tale – allowing users to get up and going as soon as they plug the Rift in. Those wishing to make additional purchases can do so from the Oculus Store, which will support purchases in multiple currencies, including the British Pound, Euro, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar and Japanese Yen.

Currently users outside of the US buying an Oculus Rift online receive an American version of the hardware; which is set to change with this roll out. Instead, each country will receive its own localised product – with regional pricing, translated packaging, manuals and software. Oculus Rift is also working with software developers to help them localise their games and VR experiences.

So what about that gaming PC? Well, at many of the retail store locations that Oculus Rift will now be sold in – those same retail stores are able to sell gaming PCs. In fact, the Facebook-owned company has partnered with several PC manufacturers to make it easy to consumers to know which PC is compatible through the Oculus Ready PCs programme.

While the Oculus Rift will be sold in retail stores across Europe, the Oculus Touch won’t be. The company promises that in-store retail experiences of the Touch are coming globally this October however.