A breaking news is coming from the GDC 2018: thanks to Road To VR, we now know the price and the launch date of the Vive Pro.

And you’ve read everything in the title of this article: $800 (€879 here in Italy) for having only the new headset, the “upgrade-kit” that you can use with your existing base stations and controllers. The pre-orders will start today, even if at the time of writing they are not started yet. The official launch date will be the 5th of April. As I (and with me, bazillions of other people) have forecasted, the original Vive gets a discount and become priced $500. If you buy the Pro before June, 3rd, you get 6 months of free Viveport subscription. We don’t know the price and release date of the full new package, but at this point, for sure it will cost more than $1000.

This is the piece of news… probably the most important that you’ll read today. I’ll follow with some commentary of mine.

First of all, the price appears insane: $800 for only the headset… when the Samsung Odyssey that has similar functionalities costs $499, controllers included. I had forecasted a price of $800-$1000 for the whole bundle of the Vive Pro, but $800 for only the headset seems too much, considering that the experience Vive Pro + old controllers is not that appealing. Trust me, after you have tried the Oculus Touch, the old Vive wands feel too big and uncomfortable. And even the new price of the old Vive, in my opinion, is still too high: again, it will cost exactly as the Samsung Odyssey, that has far more functionalities in term of usability, resolution and such. And wrt to the Oculus Rift, that is continuously gaining market shares, it is not enough: the Rift remains cheaper and this $100 discount may be not enough to stop this hemorrhage.

If you remember, I’ve tried the Vive Pro and I have not been impressed by it: in few minutes of usage, I had no “WOW” moment for the technology. Mister President told me that I didn’t appreciate it because it is a pro device that is tailored for professionals and that gives its best when it is used for prolonged periods of time (where the added comfort is a key factor) or for particular apps (for instance the increased resolution may help developers in developing in VR) or in particular places (SteamVR tracking 2.0 allows for big tracked areas and this is fundamental for arcades). Talking also with other people that have tried the Pro, we all agreed on one conclusion: it is a step forward from the Vive 1, but the features that it adds are not fundamental for the general consumer. The general consumer may buy an Acer toaster headset and be happy with it to play Minecraft VR, it doesn’t need the advanced 3D audio features of the Pro or its comfort that makes you happily wear a headset for hours.

IMHO people at HTC knows that very well and that’s why they priced the device this high: professionals do not care much about the price, so provided that you offer them quality, you can raise the price a lot more. It is a premium product: and all premium products get sold for a very high price to few people. It is like selling a BMW: its price seems insane to me, but it is perfectly normal for the few people that buy it. If you see it in this way, the price doesn’t appear insane anymore: it is a normal business choice: sell fewer units for a higher price. And as BMW doesn’t care about people like me that complain about the price, because we can buy a Sedan and be happy to have a car that takes us from our home to our office, HTC doesn’t care about us complaining on the price of the Pro: if we want a standard headset spending a fair amount of money, we can buy a Rift or a Vive 1 and play most apps being happy anyway. But if we are someone needing advanced features like super 3D audio, a high-resolution screen, a super tracking technology, well the Vive Pro is perfect to offer them, provided that we pay for what we want.

The Standard Vive becomes the headset for consumers, that has an affordable price. I still think that the actual problem is in its price, because to be really competitive with the other devices on the market, it should have been priced at $400: honestly, apart from the tracking technology, I don’t see a reason to prefer a Vive 1 over the Odyssey, that is superior in everything else and has the same price; and the Rift has almost the same functionalities of the Vive 1 and it is cheaper.

My opinion remains the same as the one of my previous review: if you are a professional or a hardcore gamer, consider seriously the purchase of the Pro: it is a great device (and please… buy also the new controllers and base stations when they’ll be released); otherwise buy a Rift/Standard Vive/WMR headset: you spend a lot less and you have enough to live an enjoyable VR experience.

UPDATE: according to a photo posted by a redditor, the price of the full kit (headset + base stations v1 + controllers v1) is $1249. This doesn’t change my analysis.

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