That’s a huge price jump for one of the best offerings in gaming in years, and it comes at a time when Meta as a whole is trying to trim the fat and start making more money — while also trying to build a business with center around people accessing virtual reality hardware. The company is, however, offering buyers something to help make the new price a little easier: starting August 1st and continuing for the rest of the year, Quest 2 will come with a free copy of Beat Saber, a wildly popular game rate VR which normally costs $29.99. Meta basically blames production and shipping costs for the price increase According to UploadVR, those looking to save money by going with refurbished models will also have to shell out an extra $100 for the base version and $80 for the one with upgraded storage, paying $349 and $429, respectively. In its post on Tuesday, Meta says that “the cost of manufacturing and shipping our products has increased.” According to sources speaking to Verge reporter Alex Heath, the company does not make any money from sales of Quest headphones. It’s possible, however, that antitrust regulators could accuse Meta of deliberately subsidizing its headphones long enough to force competitors who simply couldn’t afford to match its price and then raise the price when gained a dominant position in the market. As an example of how popular Quest 2 is among gamers, just look at last month’s Steam hardware survey: 49.02 percent of people using VR with Steam were playing Quest 2. Quest 2’s prominence has been on the rise since last year. Graphic: Valve By the way, this is a headset that doesn’t require a computer to work, so this number probably doesn’t account for everyone using the headset. Market research firm IDC estimates Quest 2 to make up 78 percent of the virtual/augmented reality market in 2021, according to The Hindu. Recent reports have indicated that Meta is working on a new line of VR and AR headsets, some of which will be significantly more expensive than the current crop (even with the increased prices). The company hasn’t been shy about working on new hardware, but Tuesday’s move may give users pause to buy into its ecosystem. That wouldn’t bode well for Meta, which has said it’s going all-in on virtual worlds. If you’re now in a rush to pick up one of these headphones before the price goes up, you might want to check out our video that showcases some of its more useful features.
