What’s Going on With Windows VR Headset Availability?

We’ve been pretty impressed with the Windows Mixed Reality platform. From the affordable, capable hardware to excellent software support in both gaming and non-gaming apps. The solid inside-out tracking alone was worth taking an interest in the system and the included motion controllers provide one of the best VR experiences yet.

It seems like a recipe for success, but Microsoft and its partners have been strangely quiet when it comes to WMR headsets. Most worrying, was an article published by Road To VR late in June, observing that WMR hardware seems to be disappearing. Now the story has been updated in July, but answers are few and far between. So what might be going on?

Here Today Gone Tomorrow

As Road To VR pointed out, if you head to the WMR Headset Store Page, half of the products are out of stock! Samsung, who arguably make the most premium WMR headsets, also seems to be dropping headset models, with the original model gone and only the Odyssey+ still for sale. Furthermore, they reported clearance sales on these headsets with retailers who stock them.

Microsoft eventually got back to the publication, but without much detail. Simply saying that yes, some headsets were not available at the moment, but if anyone wanted one they could pick up an Odyssey+. So what could this all mean?

Without a clear message from Microsoft or an affiliate, we can only speculate. It would be a real pity to see such a good base platform, integrated with the world’s most popular OS, disappear overnight. Although, it might be a case of hardware partners not seeing the sorts of sales they wanted. After all, although VR headset sales seem to be improving, the only headset that has sold in real volumes is the PSVR. The only hardware Microsoft is making itself is the expensive Hololens systems. If we see a Microsoft-made WMR headset launch in the near future, that might explain the sudden death of partner devices. However, it’s more likely that stock is not being replenished due to a lack of demand. Either way, you can be sure we’ll be watching for any more stealth disappearances of WMR headsets.