Oculus VR Worried About The True Cost of VR Gaming

The Oculus Rift headset is already making big waves in the technology industry, the DK2 development kit is a strong seller, and developers around the world have been working hard to integrate the hardware into their games. The hardware is incredible, but it does have some draw backs even in its early development kit form.

The hardware needed to run VR games can be a tough problem for some people, you need to render a game in 1920 x 1080 @ 75 Hz in 3D, so effectively you’re rendering the game output twice and putting even more strain on your CPU and GPU. The hardware needed for AAA games can be expensive, but throw high frame rates and 3D into the mix and you’re going to be saving up for a GTX 980 or a 290X as soon as possible.

This hardware barrier worries Oculus VR’s VP of Product Nate Mitchell. In a recent interview with Metro, Nate said “I think the truth is though, with the Rift at least, even though you’re spending $350 on the devkit you do need a high-end computer to be able to power it, right?” Mitchell reasoned. “Because of the displays and everything else. And that really becomes the gating factor. Because if everyone can afford the $350 headset but then you need a $2,000, or a $1,000, computer that’s a huge cost. So that is one of the biggest challenges we have, moving into the consumer market. And something we’re worried about.”

When the CV1 (consumer model) of the Oculus Rift is launched, it will feature a 2K display, this will require some staggering gaming hardware to take full advantage of. Now Oculus have to create the problem and wait for GPU manufacturers to solve it, mostly by producing more powerful hardware at a lower cost over the next couple of years. The enthusiast market won’t have too much trouble, but your average consumer doesn’t have a GTX 780 Ti, or a Radeon R9 295X2 to hand.

Thank you VRFocus for providing us with this information.