Facebook to stop selling Oculus Go VR Headset by end of 2020

The affordable VR headset from the company made its debut two years back.

Facebook has decided to stop selling its affordable Oculus Go VR headset starting later this year. The company has also confirmed it won't be making new apps for the platform and instead focus its energy in building the Quest and Rift series. Oculus Go was expected to be the sign of quality VR headsets going into the mass segment but the product didn't make its way past the Western countries, something which never understood why.

Facebook says that existing Oculus Go customers will get all the service support they will need, most probably till 2022 and we'd have to wait for the company to share its plans after that. "We'll end sales of Oculus Go headsets this year as we double down on improving our offerings for VR platforms Quest and Rift," Facebook said in a statement this week.

After 18 December this year, Oculus Go will stop getting new apps from the platform. "We'll also continue to maintain the system software with bug fixes and security patches through 2022. We'll stop adding new Go apps into the Store after December 18," it added.

Facebook's intentions of pulling the plug on Oculus Go became apparent when the company slashed the price of the device to $149 (Rs 11,300 approx) earlier this year. The change in business strategy suggests Facebook thinks the mass-market VR space was never going to return viable returns. Instead, their focus on Quest and Rift points to a more business-focused approach for the company, allowing them to operate in the enterprise market, eyeing the healthcare, infrastructure or other industries.

Oculus Go made its debut in 2018 as a standalone VR headset priced at $199 (Rs 14,925 approx), and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook claimed this is the first generation product in the series with 1000+ games and experiences.

Facebook to stop selling Oculus Go VR Headset by end of 2020