Palmer Luckey Says VR Battle Is “Us VS. The Public,” Compares Oculus and PSVR

In an interview with the International Business Times (via GamesRadar), Oculus founder Palmer Luckey talked everything from Oculus’ PR hurdles to the company’s competitors.

In terms of PR, Luckey admitted the biggest issue so far wasn’t competing against other VR players like HTC or Sony, but rather making sure the VR sells at all.

"The real battle here at this point isn’t us against them. It’s us versus the public and trying to convince them that VR is worth adopting, that it’s worth wearing something on your head to use virtual reality. That’s the real fight, and I think we’re all fighting that."

Luckey also discussed PlayStation VR, Sony’s VR platform that will pair with a PlayStation 4. He doesn’t think the Oculus and PSVR share the same space in the VR market.

“It’s also worth noting that their headset isn’t quite as high-end as ours — it’s still, I think, a good headset — and the PlayStation 4 is not nearly as powerful as our recommended spec for a PC. I think that there’s not many people who already own a PS4 who don’t own a gaming PC who are going to go out and make that roughly $1,500 all-in investment in the Rift. It really is a separate market. They’re bringing virtual reality to a different group of people who I don’t think were ever really a part of our market anyway."

He also complimented Sony’s effort to make sure their headset had content to play with, and mentioned that Oculus is doing the same with Lucky’s Tale, the game that will come free with every Rift.

Last week, Luckey made some inflammatory comments on Twitter, and subsequently apologized and explained the Rift’s high price point.

The Oculus Rift will launch in the first quarter of this year.