Forum Discussion
With $100m could Oculus afford to give out free HD Dev Kits?
Oculus have have $16m + $75m ($100m) in venture funding, does that mean that they could afford to issue Free HD developer kits?
So what do you think?
Could they afford to do it?
Should they do it?
And what about VR game funding, is this something Oculus needs to do, do they need to support and help fund those ground breaking games and apps that will prime the market for their consumer version product?
Or should they focus on creating a VR metaverse, a way in which people can enter VR and browse and navigate through all of the available VR worlds/experiences with ease.
So what do you think?
Could they afford to do it?
Should they do it?
And what about VR game funding, is this something Oculus needs to do, do they need to support and help fund those ground breaking games and apps that will prime the market for their consumer version product?
Or should they focus on creating a VR metaverse, a way in which people can enter VR and browse and navigate through all of the available VR worlds/experiences with ease.
11 Replies
- i can imagine that they already have given a bunch of HD kits to bigger game developers.....
like 100? would cost they only 20,000 $ and is really important for fast game development.....
10,000? 2 million dollars, but well invested if they sell a couple of million units.
yes i think they could afford it easily...... - Can afford to absolutely does not equal is going to.
- Good point, although it might cost more than that each, due to delivery, support, ect!
So which game developers/VR evangelists would be in you're Top 10 to get a Free HD Dev Kit?
For me at least (no particular order):- VR Game Jam Winners for 2013
Some of the big Kickstarter 3D developers e.g. Star Citizen, Elite Dangerous, ect
VR Game Jam Winners for 2014
Some AAA developers who have pledged support for VR in their games
Cymatic Bruce
Who do you think should be on the list for a Free HD dev kit? - well i think most of the big game studios like Epic Games,Crytek,RSI, LukasWarmMedia(officialpartner) already have one or a few....
I think mainly all studios that have some serious ongoing VR projects and personally i would like to see
a freakin.... Crysis VR version! I wanna be that badass Prophet chasing aliens with explosive arrows. :lol: - You're assuming the cost of development hardware is the primary limiting factor here. It's not.
$300 for a dev kit is absolute pittance compared to the cost of most development tools. - They could likely afford it, but I don't think they should. I would prefer if that money went into R&D, production towards the first retail product and expanding their team and integration with the rest of the industry. If the first production product is good, it will generate revenue to further their future development of the technology. In the end, instead of getting something for free I would rather purchase a HD Dev kit (to go with my initial dev kit) because I would see that as investing in a technology that I want to see get better. In the end my investment leads to a better product and more impressive entertainment to enjoy.
If your talking about 10 to 20 free Dev kits for a few indie developers that are really producing material that can work with the Rifts, sure, why not. That pays off in that they will have material to demo on the hardware and it will be community created. Those free dev kits would be in a sense an advertising cost. That's just a way to do business. - [delete]
"Arowx" wrote:
Good point, although it might cost more than that each, due to delivery, support, ect!
So which game developers/VR evangelists would be in you're Top 10 to get a Free HD Dev Kit?
For me at least (no particular order):- VR Game Jam Winners for 2013
Some of the big Kickstarter 3D developers e.g. Star Citizen, Elite Dangerous, ect
VR Game Jam Winners for 2014
Some AAA developers who have pledged support for VR in their games
Cymatic Bruce
Who do you think should be on the list for a Free HD dev kit?
Hey, you forgot Nukemarine.
The HD unit is old tech now so the discussion should be about the upcoming DK2 and actual consumer Rift. Yes, Oculus is going to give out DK2 units to companies they have a close working relationship. They've been pretty open about this. I can also see them giving them out to indie developers that showed promise such as the Jam winners.
As for evangelists, well, that's more of an advertising investment. A number of us have probably caused quite a few future sells by showing off the Rift. Maybe Oculus will reward that effort with either head of the line purchase of DK2 or maybe a free unit. I do wonder if Grandma Rifter will get the new version for free.- I would be happy with a basic low res Oculus lol. I am working on a game but I cannot afford a dev kit so I am just hoping I can refine the game once I have the kit. I think charging is probably still a good idea though as more money should equal a better quality consumer version.
- If you're working on an Oculus Rift project, why not contact Oculus and ask if they could help you out with a development kit?
After all it's in there interest to ensure they get some amazing VR apps and games up and running.
