We now know how much the HTC Vive will cost, but game pricing is still a mystery.
HTC has offered some clues on pricing strategy for virtual reality games will take shape.
We spoke to Ryan Hoopingarner, Director of Product Marketing at HTC Vive, who told us that virtual reality games won’t necessarily cost more than contemporary titles.
“We haven’t announced any specific pricing for specific titles, but I think if you look at what’s going on in the rest of Steam, Steam will be the primary content provider for titles at first,” Hoopingarner tells TrustedReviews.
“And Steam does a great job of making sure that the price is consistent with the quality of experience you’re getting,” he continues.
The HTC Vive
According to the HTC Vive marketing lead, the price of games will be based on quality, and not necessarily skewed by the fact that they’re built for virtual reality.
“So it’s not to say that it’s X number of hours or that a certain visual fidelity relates to a certain price,” Hoopingarner explains.
“It’s really about achieving that consumer value and ensuring consistent sales,” he adds. “So if someone feels a game is overpriced, you’ll see it real quickly in the Steam comments.”
HTC Vive in use
Related: Oculus Rift vs HTC Vive
HTC recently revealed the price of its HTC Vive Consumer Edition headset to be $799.
Unfortunately, the company has yet to reveal market-specific pricing, so we’re not privy to a UK mark-up right now.
However, it’s worth noting that even once you’ve bought the HTC Vive, you’ll still need a computing system with a capable GPU to handle the grunt-work.
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What do you think a fair price would be for a good AAA virtual reality game? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
