Facebook-owned Oculus wants to take virtual reality mainstream, so it’s bringing its VR headset to the place mainstream shoppers can find it: Retail stores.
Oculus will sell its virtual reality headset in Best Buy stores beginning this week
It’s the first time the Rift has been available for in-store purchase.
Oculus
Oculus announced Monday that it will begin selling “a small number” of Oculus Rift headsets in 48 Best Buy stores around the country later this week. It’s the first time the Rift has been available in-store, although Best Buy has already been selling the Rift online.
Perhaps more important than actually selling the headset from a physical store is Oculus’ plan to set up demos for these devices at each Best Buy location. Virtual reality is still a very niche industry that appeals primarily to gamers. Simply getting the word out that Oculus exists and is available for purchase is still a challenge. Putting demo stations inside Best Buys could help educate shoppers who stumble upon the product for the first time.
Oculus started selling the Rift in January and shipping them in March, but the process hasn’t been as smooth as expected. Lots of the orders have been delayed, so Oculus says that those waiting on a preorder can buy a Rift in-store and still get the rest of their preorder perks (like a game and first dibs on the Oculus controllers, which are also delayed).
This backup was not-so-subtly hinted at in the company’s blog post Monday: “Quantities [in Best Buy] will be extremely limited while we catch up on Rift preorders.” So don’t hold your breath.
In addition to selling in Best Buy starting May 7, Oculus will also sell online from Microsoft and Amazon beginning this week.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
