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VIVE Focus Vision – New PC VR and All-In-One Mixed Reality Headset – YouTube

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With Trump’s tariffs on tech leading the PC gaming industry in uncertainty around potential price hikes, HTC Vive is taking advantage of the situation with a special sale. This gives anyone who didn’t manage to get themselves fully kitted out in some of the best VR machines on offer the chance to do so at pre-tariff prices. It’s a smart move, turning the impending price hikes into an opportunity for one last taste of affordable gaming for those in the US.

While we’ve definitely seen tech prices go up due to the tariffs, it’s worth noting we don’t know exactly how much HTC intends to price things in the future. As such, how much of a deal these regularly priced pieces of tech end up being is up in the air.

“Order by 5/31, we’ll cover the tariff cost!” boasts Vive’s sale site. Essentially it’s a sale, but for the prices you’d’ have expected to see before these announced taxes. The sale covers the Vive Focus Vision, Vive Ultimate Tracker 3+1 Kit, Vive Tracker (3.0), and the Base Station 2.0. This should let most people get setup for a full VR experience, or just grab those last bits before having to pay the extra on top.

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For those brand new to VR, the Vive Focus Vision might be the way to go. It’s the latest headset from Vive and works as a PC headset as well as a standalone VR machine. This means you can go via display port and have a wicked high fidelity experience with a capable PC connected or just go lite mode with what will run on the headset. It also offers mixed reality, eye tracking, and additional tracker support.

If you compare to the potentially more commonly owned Meta’s Quest 3 headset, it’s similar but more feature complete. Realy, the Vive Focus Vision looks more like what the Apple Vision Pro headset was claiming to be, only probably good. It currently goes for $999 on the website, so you’ve got until the end of the month if you want to pick it up before that price goes up.

The Vive Ultimate Tracker 3+1 Kit is a set of accessories that allows you to track more of your body than the standard setup. This one needs to be paired with a SteamVR compatible headset and controllers, so is better as an augment to a current setup, or an addon to the Vive Focus Vision. Once set up, it lets you track your head, hands, waist, and feet without lag. It’s worth being aware that the benefit of something like this will depend on the games you’re looking to play too. You can pick this up in the not-quite-a-sale sale for $599.

If that seems like a bit of overkill for your setup, then there’s the Vive Tracker (3.0). This is a cheaper tracker that works with base station-compatible headsets and allows you to replace controllers with your body movement. Again it’ll depend on what you’re playing and your setup as to whether or not this is worthwhile, but you can pick it up for $129 until the 31st.

Lastly, there’s the Base Station 2.0, which works with Vive Pro Series and Cosmos Elite headsets. This allows for higher precision wide-area tracking of up to Up to 1000 sq. ft, so it’s a good bet for those that have a whole room setup for their VR gaming shenanigans. This one is priced at $199, but at time of writing doesn’t appear to be in stock on the HTC website.

Whether or not Vive’s lineup is what you’re looking for in a headset, this sale makes a good point. If you’re looking to get into VR, or any other kind of gaming tech, it might be worth doing so before price hikes take hold if they haven’t already. Hopefully we’ll see some other companies follow in HTC’s footsteps here and offer some tariff sales to help offset the sudden shock these price hikes are likely to bring to the wallets of the general public.

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Remember Ubisoft’s announcement last October it was currently in the “exploration phase” of a new Rayman project? Well, it seems full development has now been given the go ahead, with a recent job listing indicating the publisher is currently staffing up on a “AAA” Rayman game.

To rewind a bit, all this came about following reports last year that Ubisoft had assembled a small group of developers – including around a dozen members of its now-disbanded Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown team – to work on a remake of Rayman. Somewhat unusually, Ubisoft didn’t immediately reach for the ‘does not comment on rumours or speculation’ button, instead confirming that, yes actually, it was sort of true. “We are pleased to confirm Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Milan have recently started an exploration phase on the Rayman brand,” it said at the time. “The project is still in its early stages, and we will share more details later.”

There was a sense, then, that nothing might come of the project if that “exploration phase” didn’t bring encouraging results. But it now appears those initial experiments showed sufficient promise, because Ubisoft Milan is currently seeking a 3D gameplay animator to work on a “prestigious AAA title for the Rayman brand.” There’s also a second, slightly less specific job listing searching for a senior game designer to “work on the Rayman brand”, but it seems likely both positions are related to the same project.

More of this sort of thing please Ubisoft.Watch on YouTube

So that’s some encouraging news for Rayman fans, particularly given Ubisoft Montpellier and Milan’s historically stellar output. Between them, the studios have released the acclaimed likes of Mario + Rabbids, the beautiful Valiant Hearts series, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, plus Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends – two absolutely gold-standard 2D platformers.

The only troubling element of Rayman’s revival is last year’s controversial admission by Ubisoft that original Rayman creator Michel Ancel had been drafted in as a consultant. Ancel departed the publisher in 2020, allegedly following an investigation into employee complaints accusing him of toxic leadership, and his involvement with the new Rayman project was reported to have “raised some concerns among team members”. It is, however, unclear if Ancel is still serving as a consultant now Ubisoft’s initial “exploration phase” appears to be complete.

Signs that Rayman may be making a “AAA” return come at a challenging time for Ubisoft. The publisher has faced a tumultuous few years amid tumbling share prices and a number of high-profile flops, resulting in a string of layoffs and studio closures. As part of its attempts to right the ship, Ubisoft announced it was launching a new subsidiary dedicated to its big three IPs – Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry – earlier this year. With those game under a new banner, Ubisoft itself will concentrate on a number of key areas, including “nurturing the development of iconic franchises” – which is presumably where Rayman comes in.

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HTC Vive makes impending tariffs a sales event, giving US consumers one last chance to jump into VR before the price hikes

Looks like Ubisoft is giving Rayman an “AAA” revival after last year’s “exploration phase”