From New Atlas:
If you were holding off on getting a high-end VR headset because of pricing, Oculus just made the hit on your wallet a bit lighter, with a significant price drop on both the Rift headset and Touch controllers.
Starting today, the Oculus Rift headset now costs US$499 (down from $599) and the Touch motion controls are now $99 (from $199). A bundle that includes both is now $598. The new pricing is reflected on Oculus' website, as well as Amazon and Best Buy.
Additionally, a third Oculus sensor (required for 360° tracking) drops to $59 from $79.The Rift was always too expensive, so bringing the Rift more in line with PlayStation VR, and making it significantly less expensive than the HTC Vive, could help sales... assuming they're still allowed to sell headsets, of course, something that ZeniMax has filed an injunction to prevent.
Bringing the price point of a Rift bundle down by US$200 won't solve any of VR's other problems, though, including a lack of compelling content, a lack of consumer interest in the devices, generally, and unresolved issues like VR sickness, and I doubt that it'll propel users into VR. Consumers weren't sitting on the sidelines because VR was awesome-but-expensive, they were sitting on the sidelines because VR is basically useless, and therefore too expensive at any price. Unless VR becomes significantly more useful, the price is going to have to come down a lot more than this to make it appealing.
At least it's now just the cost of an expensive peripheral, though, and not the cost of a major appliance; seriously, you could have bought a new fridge for what Oculus was originally charging for the Rift. HTC should be following suit soon enough, and most reviews describe their product as superior (assuming you have a room to dedicate to a room-scale VR set-up), so if you're waiting for VR to come down in price before buying, you may want to wait a little while longer.