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
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.
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.