Free Limited Edition Rift Coming to Oculus Kickstarter Supporters

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Oculus has announced that backers of their 2012 Rift DK1 Kickstarter campaign will receive a limited edition version of Oculus Rift consumer for free.

In a move that is likely to make Oculus the most popular company in the world for a select group of a few thousand VR enthusiasts, backers who pledged to receive an Oculus Rift DK1 from the company’s 2012 Kickstarter campaign will receive a limited edition ‘Kickstarter Edition’ Oculus Rift for absolutely nothing. Yes, absolutely free. If you don’t believe us, and I probably wouldn’t if I were you, check out the video above.

‘Kickstarter Edition’ Oculus Rift

oculus-rift-concept
Oculus Rift concept design from the original Kickstarter

Qualifying backers will receive a notification to fill in a Kickstarter survey, and assuming you’re resident in one of the 20 countries Oculus is certified to ship to and you fill it in before February 1st, you’ll receive your limited edition Rift for free. Oculus also notes that all limited edition Rifts will still include the two recently announced bundled games; Playful Corp’s Lucky’s Tale and CCP Games’ EVE:Valkyrie.

In a message sent to those qualifying for the handout, Oculus reiterates a sentiment which the team has repeated throughout the Rift’s journey to retail; that none of this would have been possible without the faith shown by the original Kickstarter backers.

The idea of backer recognition once the Rift hit retail was recently teased by Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey during an interview with Road to VR’s Executive Editor Ben Lang back at the end of September:

Oculus’ wildly successful crowdfunding campaign in many ways kickstarted Kickstarter, ending one of the most successful campaigns in the platform’s history.

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Below is the update in full, signed by some of Oculus earliest members.


Thank you from Oculus

Friends,

On August 1, 2012, we launched a Kickstarter campaign to seed the development of a groundbreaking virtual reality headset – Oculus Rift.

Tomorrow, we’ll be opening Rift pre-orders on Oculus.com. This is a major milestone on the path to putting great VR in the hands of millions.

You’re going to experience thrilling adventures in Lucky’s Tale and Edge of Nowhere, feel your heart race as you scale mountains in The Climb, and become a rockstar in Rockband VR. You’ll create and share something magical in Oculus Medium and participate in the ultimate space dogfighting in EVE: Valkyrie.

As one of the early supporters of Oculus, you helped make this revolution happen. And before we open Rift pre-orders to the world, we wanted to share one more special update with you, our Kickstarter community.

As a small token of our appreciation for your support, all Kickstarter backers who pledged for a Rift development kit will get a free Kickstarter Edition Oculus Rift! And like all Rift pre-order purchasers, you’ll receive a bundled copy of Lucky’s Tale and EVE: Valkyrie.

To claim your free Rift, fill out the survey you’ll receive from Kickstarter before February 1, 2016 and provide a shipping address that is located in one of the 20 countries Rift is launching in. For those who don’t live in one of those 20 countries, we’re working on an alternative, and you can let us know your preference in the form.

You were there at the beginning of our journey — we couldn’t have done it without you. Today marks a new chapter.

Thank you!

— Palmer, Brendan, Nate, Michael


Pre-orders for the Oculus Rift consumer edition (aka CV1) will begin on Wednesday 6th at 8am PST via Oculus’ website.

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Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • Elumes

    Why the hell didn’t I back the DK1!? :(

    • Nathan Casey

      Hindsight is a bitch huh?

  • Kamil

    Gimli: “Oh, that was a kingly gift.” Gandalf: “Yes! I never told him, but its worth was greater than the value of the Shire.”…

  • Matt R

    Damn It. I bought a DK1 only a few days after the Kickstarter ended and I bought a DK2. Sad times! but good on Oculus for rewarding the community.

    • I did the same thing. Huge bummer.

      • GonzoDark

        I did the same thing :/ Yeah, huge bummer

        • Mark

          Same, but I think 20k Dk1’s shipped in total. So to give that many away would be a bit silly, as much as Im sure Facebook can afford it.

    • Foreign Devil

      yeah but you can sell them for at least the same price you paid for them and use that money to get the consumer version.

    • brandon9271

      Same here.. Be nice if they did the same for folks who bought the dk1 in the following days after the kick starter ended but that’s really asking too much. I was literally a day late and a dollar short in this case.

  • Ian Shook

    Wish it was for DK2 people too :(

    • Bakkster

      DK2 owners like myself didn’t really take a risk with their cash. The Kickstarter was really nothing but an idea asking for money to turn it into a product. When I jumped in with the DK2 it was already a fully-fledged company with a product in the wild, I definitely don’t deserve any credit for what was already in motion.

    • Stuart Bradley Newsom

      Like Bakkster said, there was no risk if you bought into DK2. Hell, there wasn’t a risk if you bought into the DK1 because it was already physically viable and working as described.

      I wish DK1 early adopters got a free CV1, but its not to be compared to the risk Kickstarter users had.

  • space123321

    Funny thing when I look back at what I pledged for compared to what the DK1 turned into – “UNASSEMBLED RIFT PROTOTYPE KIT + DOOM 3 BFG: Try building the prototype yourself! You’ll receive your own DIY kit for building the Rift from scratch, including all of individual parts for the prototype as well as instructions for assembling it by hand. It will also be shipped out a month earlier, before the official dev kits. This also includes a copy of Doom 3 BFG, and full access to the Developer Center, SDK, docs, samples, and engine integrations! (Please add $30 for international shipping) NOTE: This DIY kit is only for true hardware geeks equipped with a hot glue gun. We encourage most of you to get the standard version below!” Things have progressed so fast!!! Can’t wait to get my free Rift – so unnecessary however so appreciative!

  • Andrew Jakobs

    Just as I suspected, those are some lucky people, and this shows that Oculus isn’t just a big money grab as some people suggest.. But as said, thanx to those backers we now can enjoy the CV1.. (I own a DK2)..

  • Alkapwn

    Do you guys know if Kickstarter backers still need to fill out a pre-order form? Or Is the survey the only thing that’s required? The reason I ask is because I’m one of the pre-Kickstarter backers and want to make sure I can make it on the list, wherever they’re making it from.

  • DonGateley

    Cool but I’m not currently in a position to buy the $1500-$2000 desktop computer needed to use it.

    • cdm283813

      If you can’t hang with the big boys it’s time to find another hobby.

    • Stuart Bradley Newsom

      I’m curious about what one would expect from a VR device on the PC? I’m curious if anyone understands how different it will be with the Playstation Morpheus. If VR for SONY is running on a console, then you KNOW there are corners being cut.

      • DonGateley

        Their announcement of a $1500 bundle has me looking at this differently. There is no way this has the resolution to be useful for anything that comes from a camera which limits it in reality to gaming and rendered experience (note that they restricted their demos to that at CES.)

        Now, for that use this bundle can be viewed as a $1500 gaming console plus viewer and while I am not sufficiently interested in gaming to pay that, there is a whole community that has already shown that willingness. It is not very large in the scheme of things but surely large enough to keep the tech engineers and the developers busy developing.

        It is clear that this is not intended for nor will it satisfy the general viewing audience.

        • Nathan Casey

          They are not 1500 to 2000. Without the rift you can buy a prebuilt computer for 1000 or less that fits all the requirements for the rift. And if you build one you can make it for like 600

  • vrtualise

    Really decent of them, it must be said :) I’ve owned more than a few DK1s and DK2s over the years (demo days took their toll!) but I don’t feel disadvantaged by the giveaway as I bought safe in the knowledge that I was getting a product that was already shipping, unlike the original Kickstarters.