In an interesting twist to Insomniac’s VR brawler Feral Rites‘ recent release, Oculus have slashed the price of the game to $29.99 from $49.99 stating the price was “too high”.

See Also: ‘Feral Rites’ Review
See Also: ‘Feral Rites’ Review

In an unusual move, Oculus have seemingly taken on board the critical and fan reaction to Incomniac Games’ recently released fantasy brawler Feral Rites. The title received a lukewarm critical reception on release and it seems those gamers who bought were none too happy with the product they received for the original price of $49.99.

In response however, not only have Oculus slashed the price of the game on the Oculus Store to $29.99, they’ve also emailed all of those who purchased the game at full price informing them that they have been gifted 6 free games as compensation. Those customer also have an option to a full refund as well.

Furthermore, Feral Rites has also now been added to the Fall sale on Oculus Store at an even lower price of $9.99. Oculus’ letter to customers (a copy of which was shared on reddit by user ChrisCypher):

Hi,

Oculus Studios, its developers, and its players are all pioneers in the new world of VR content. As such, we’re all learning as we go.

As you know, Oculus Studios and Insomniac Games recently released a game called Feral Rites. Our teams felt the product was of high quality and, due to the depth and length of play, a price of $49.99 was chosen. You were one of the dedicated VR enthusiasts that tried the game at that price. For that, we thank you!

After listening to the community the last few days, it has become evident to us that this price was too high. So we’ve decided to drop the price.

Today you’ll find Feral Rites for $29.99 on the Oculus store. We’ve also added the title to our Fall Sale at $9.99.

For pioneers like you, who gave the game a chance at the original price and gave us the valuable feedback we need, we’ve decided to add six Oculus Studios’ games to your account at no cost: 

  • AirMech Command
  • Damaged Core
  • Defense Grid 2: Enhanced VR Edition
  • Chronos
  • Edge of Nowhere
  • The Climb

The games should automatically appear in your library by Sunday, September 18. If you have questions, or if you’d rather have a refund of the purchase price, please contact the Oculus support team at support.oculus.com and click “Contact Us”.

We thank you for your trust in Oculus Studios and Insomniac Games, and appreciate your continued help as we bring VR to the world.
— Oculus Studios

Developers of Feral Rites, Insomniac Games, have posted an update to their website announcing the price change and compensation stating:

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As we do with all our games, we’ve paid careful attention and responded to player feedback so far. We appreciate the support from everyone who has experienced Feral Rites, and we understand the concerns as well — especially about the game’s price. Effective immediately, the price of Feral Rites is $29.99. The game’s original price was largely based on all the work that went into it. We’re proud that Feral Rites is among the largest VR games of its kind available today.

It’s heartening to see Oculus, who are slowly but carefully building up a valuable user base for their Oculus Store content portal, to not only listen but react so swiftly to a game’s reception. Feral Rites was one of Oculus Studios’ key exclusive titles for the Rift and acknowledging there were issues with the way it was sold and taking action hopefully bodes well for the future.

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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.
  • Mattsomatic

    Blimey! Those six games are pretty much in the top ten games for Rift. I’d imagine many already have them, and will go for a refund, but for those that don’t have them that’s a decent apology.

    I remember Microsoft doing something similar with the original XBox. I bought on launch, then they slashed the price and sent a second Duke Controller and a stack of games as recompense.

    Still, surely this shouldn’t have been a surprise to them? People had the same reaction to Chronos and The Climb with their release pricing.

  • Alexander Schick

    This is so weird

    • Deshawn

      Yeah lol, I have no idea how to even respond to this.

      Just seems so strange

      • Get Schwifty!

        It depends… they have always been saying that quality games were a key point of their strategy to get VR gaming and adoption going, then a turd like Feral Rites comes along and potentially derails the process, so to make up for it (and likely send a message to developers) they make an apologetic move. Not weird to me if that is their goal, this move is just to help prime the market for the Touch release and to reinforce their commitment to quality which unfortunately they can’t fully control with outside devs. A real shame, this looked to be an exciting idea and a good use of VR, but it sounds like the devs just strung it together based on reviews.

        The problem right now is because the VR market is so small, both Vive and Oculus are seeding game devs, sometimes I suspect smaller groups with the hopes of producing good titles which is very hard on a budget. To produce a true AAA title costs real money, and the devs on a shoe string are just putting together what amounts to still limited games that are more tech demo than game. This is a real problem if home VR is to take off, as good games are required to pull what amounts to most of the current market for flat screen games in.

  • Justos

    Extremely generous of Oculus and Insomniac. I loved Edge of Nowhere but Feral rites at that price … plus review scores that were floating around I had to pass.

    12CAD? No brainer. Im sure if it launched with a 30$ price tag it would have been much better received. Its a very polished brawler for VR.

  • Iliad

    Actually it is showing up in my Oculus home for 9.99 tonight? Smells like desperation a bit. Tempted to try it at that price.

  • AcidByte

    Feral Rites is not that bad …. grabbed it at 9.99 :)