Steam and HTC’s virtual reality headset, Vive may be one of the more alluring announcements made this year so far, but the latest news indicates that being an early adopter won’t be cheap – as it seldom is. Speaking to the Market for Computer and Videogames (MCV), HTC’s head of product marketing, Jeff Gattis, had a few choice points to make about virtual reality in general and the Vive in particular.

One of these was regarding the price of the unit, as he stressed that the company was focused on delivering a premium virtual reality (VR) experience. He confirmed that the Vive is positioned at the high end of the market, admitting that this may slow down its adoption.

Count the cost

Although he didn’t cite particular figures, it’s not too difficult to ascertain that HTC’s offering will thus likely be somewhat more expensive than the competition. The most notable of these, at least at the moment, is the Oculus Rift, which is expected to launch for between $200 (R2 400) and $400 (R4 800). This may reasonably lead users to anticipate the Vive to come in at similar prices to those of the current next gen consoles (R6 500-R7 200).

In the same interview though, Gattis stressed that the Vive is not solely intended to be a gaming platform, but is rather aimed at being a computing one. Thus, it could well mean that the product comes in at the same price point reserved for high end tablets (around the R9 000) mark. Although no release date has been firmly announced as yet, the company indicated they were aiming to have it available before the end of this year.

On the positive side though, if it can successfully venture beyond the niche audience of gamers, then the price could drop quickly and fairly dramatically, making it more affordable down the line. For early adopters though, you may want to start saving now.