A software storefront for the Oculus Rift will be launched later this year, but in the early launch period, it will have no monetization options to speak of.
Now, don’t get excited. The Oculus Rift VR Headset is still expected sometime in 2015, but the Samsung and Oculus collab device Gear VR will be launching this year alongside the early version of Oculus Home.
Oculus’ Nate Mitchell spoke out to confirm that the lack of any payment method is purely down to a delay in development. Basically, what this means is that if any developer wants to support the Gear VR around it’s launch, they will be forced to give away their game for free.
Mitchell said, “We’re launching Gear VR without monetization in Oculus Home. Payments are hard. We have not rolled out our payment infrastructure as fast as we’d want.”
Naturally, developers and published alike are now faced with somewhat of a conundrum. Do they release their games during the critical launch window rush, in order to get an early foothold, or do they wait until the monetization options are able?
Mitchell went on to say, “I share their pain. I truly do. This is not where we wanted to be. We wanted to have our payments infrastructure online already. The truth is, we’re behind on where we want to be, and we’re working as fast as we can to get it in place. It should have already been there.”
