In recent months, price estimates for Facebook's Oculus Rift ranged from the relatively cheap $350 right up to $1,500, so when the official price tag was announced last week, it divided opinion.
Many were relieved that, at $600, the headset is more than half the most expensive prediction, while others accused the firm for targeting only the high-end of the market.
Now Oculus' chief executive has defended the headset's price and revealed the company has a 'razor-thin' margin to make the device as affordable as possible.
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Oculus' chief executive Brendan Iribe (pictured) has defended the headset's price and revealed the company has a 'razor-thin' margin to make the device as affordable as possible
Oculus opened pre-orders for the VR headset on 6 January.
The $599 headset will be delivered to the first customers in March, although the first wave sold out on the firm's website in seconds, and was quickly changed to show an April delivery date.
It will also require most users to buy a new high-end gaming PC, and experts claim only 1 per cent of machines currently on the market are powerful enough to 'drive' the headset.
The Rift will additionally be available in limited locations at select retailers starting in April.
Bundles that include an Oculus Ready PC and a Rift will be available for pre-order in February starting at $1,499.
Speaking to The Washington Post at last week's Consumer Electronics Show, Oculus boss Brendan Iribe explained: 'We made it as close to the cost of the hardware as possible. The margin is razor-thin.'
He added that, in the first instance, Oculus is looking to break even with sales of the highly-anticipated gadget.
It follows on from reports that Samsung's PlayStation VR rival will cost in the region of $800.
A listing, which appeared to have been posted by accident on Amazon's Canada site, revealed the PlayStation VR will cost $1,125 CAD, which converts to $800 USD or £770.
The page was spotted by Forbes, and the price has since been removed.
Sony said in a statement: 'This was an error by Amazon, we haven't announced a price for PlayStation VR.'
Oculus opened pre-orders for the VR headset (pictured) on 6 January. The $599 headset will be delivered to the first customers in March, although the first wave sold out on the firm's website in seconds, and was quickly changed to show an April delivery date
Speaking at last week's Consumer Electronics Show, Mr Iribe explained: 'We made [the price] as close to the cost of the hardware as possible. The margin is razor-thin.' He added that, in the first instance, Oculus is looking to break even with sales of the highly-anticipated gadget
The latest design of the Oculus Rift headset is described as 'really lightweight'. It has a built-in strap, and headphones to create a 3D audio effect. The firm has partnered with Microsoft for the gadget, and it will use its Xbox One controller (pictured)
However, it is not clear if this means that the posting of the listing was an error, or the price shown on the listing was the mistake the statement refers to.
Elsewhere, the long-term health effects of virtual reality have recently come into question.
Donning the headset can cause nausea, eyestrain and headaches, for example.
Headset makers don't recommend their devices for children, and Samsung and Oculus urge adults to take at least 10-minute breaks every half-hour, and they warn against driving, riding a bike or operating machinery if the user feels odd after a session.
Stanford University professor Jeremy Bailenson told the Wall Street Journal his 15 years of research consistently have shown virtual reality can change how a user thinks and behaves, in part because it is so realistic.
'We shouldn't fathom this as a media experience; we should fathom it as an experience,' said Professor Bailenson, who also co-founded Strivr Labs, which helps football players relive practice in virtual reality.
The latest design of the Oculus Rift headset is described as 'really lightweight'. It has a built-in strap, and headphones to create a 3D audio effect.
The firm has partnered with Microsoft for the gadget, and as a result it will use its Xbox One controller.
As part of this partnership, the Rift will be able to stream Xbox One games to the Rift, Microsoft's Phil Spencer recently said.
THE FIRM FOUNDED BY A 15-YEAR-OLD
Palmer Luckey (pictured) designed Oculus Rigt when he was just 15 years old
Palmer Luckey began Oculus when he was just 15, working on prototypes in his parent's garage.
He started developing his own head-mounted VR displays when he was still in high school.
He was in college when he created the first prototype of a consumer-priced VR headset called the Oculus Rift - although he eventually left to work on the project full time.
MailOnline met Luckey at the CES show in Las Vegas last year, where he showed an incredible amount of enthusiasm for the product.
He said he believed the technology's time had come.
The firm originally turned to Kickstarter to raise money, but has since raised funds from investors across silicon Valley.
Facebook said when it bought the firm it was aiming to add almost 1,200 new employees, and 54 of these will work exclusively on the virtual reality project.
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