It’s not cheap though … costing a wallet scorching USD $1,399.
You can already get HTC’s Vive Pro in a bundle aimed at first-timers, but what if you’re a business buyer who needs it for VR design and training? You’re covered now, too. HTC has released a $1,399 Vive Pro 2.0 Kit that includes just about everything you’d want to use the headset for work, including two controllers and (most importantly) two second-generation SteamVR base stations. The new stations are crucial to supporting a large 33ft by 33ft tracking area, although you’ll need to buy a pair of extra stations to get that full coverage.
There are also new service plans to keep the headsets up and running. A standard $199 plan gives you a two-year warranty, but a $299 option gives you immediate replacement parts without having to return any broken equipment first.
It may seem odd to offer a kit that’s even more expensive than the existing Pro options at a time when headsets like the Oculus Go are driving VR prices downward. However, HTC told Fortune that it wants its corporate sales to represent 30 percent of its VR revenue by 2020 — it needs to court the enterprise crowd with hardware that meets their exact needs. As it is, this audience may be more willing to pay the premium for an upgraded experience. While many home users are cost-conscious and might have a hard time justifying a Vive Pro, a $1,399 kit is a drop in the bucket for a large business. Whatever it spends could easily be recouped through more efficient design work and more realistic training scenarios.