The Oculus Go was released just two years ago, but it seems that its time is coming to an end. Oculus has revealed that the standalone virtual reality headset will no longer be sold, in favor of the more powerful standalone Oculus Quest, and the wired Oculus Rift.
The Oculus Go provided players with an all-in-one virtual reality experience at a higher visual quality than what could be enjoyed utilizing options like Google Cardboard or any other phone-based VR setup. TheOculus Go is also sold at a remarkably affordable price, which meant interested customers could pick one up for significantly less than wired VR headsets, and in some cases, the phones required to use any phone-based VR system.
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According toOculus, the Oculus Go will no longer be sold or shipped starting at the end of the year. Those who may have been interested in picking up a starter headset should take the opportunity to do so soon, before the only chance is to buy a used or resold copy, potentially at a higher price.
In addition, Oculus will no longer be accepting newOculus Goapps in its store starting on December 4 of this year, nor updates to existing apps. However, the system itself will continue to be supported through 2022, so players can continue to expect bug fixes and security patches.
While the Oculus Go still holds up as a fun way to enjoy some virtual reality content, it’s considerably limited when compared to other virtual reality devices. Even the Quest falls a bit short technically when compared to wired devices like theValve Index, but the Go has more drawbacks than its younger cousin. For example, the Go is limited to 3DOF, versus the Quest’s 6DOF. In layman’s terms, the Go can track the movement of a player’s head, but not their position of the room they’re in, so walking or stepping backward has no effect.
Players who have enjoyed their time with the Oculus Go may consider upgrading to the Oculus Quest for a more in-depth experience, but they could have some difficulty with that.Bots have been buying Oculus Questsbefore potential players have a chance to react, with those sold headsets being resold online at exorbitant prices. Of course, between now and 2022 demand will likely die down, and at that point there may even be a Quest 2, so it’s not all bad news.
