In an about face from an announcement made just a month ago, the makers of Oculus Rift now say they will not allow apps that are virtual reality porn in their Oculus Store. They refused to give details when asked about limiting the extreme violence.
In May, when questioned about VR porn and Oculus Rift , their statement was much different. A May tweet from Oculus Rift answered the question from interested buyers.
As Metro noted earlier today, social media is already abuzz with opinions about the decision by the company to reverse their earlier claims about pornography not being censored in any way with Oculus Rift.
Ah geez I can’t believe oculus rift is gonna block porn what a downer.
— 2 YEARS OF MIDNA (@BooZAWARUDO) June 14, 2015
Co-founder Palmer Lucky had earlier told the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference and Expo that Rift would be open to supporting X-rated content. When asked specifically about plans to block any X-rated content or apps during a panel at the first Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference in May, Luckey’s response indicated that no censorship would be applied in the Oculus Store.
“The rift is an open platform. We don’t control what software can run on it. And that’s a big deal.”
Business Insider recently interviewed a spokesperson for Oculus Rift and got the most recent, definitive statement directly. The Rift store will not be selling or rating virtual reality pornography apps.
“Oculus only distributes developer content that meets their terms of service, which forbid pornographic content from being a part of the Oculus Store.”
When asked a reasonable follow up question regarding extreme violence in the Rift app store, the Oculus Rift spokesperson was much less precise in his response.
“Oculus only distributes developer content that meets their terms of service, but they aren’t open to discuss what those terms are at this time.”
The statements only apply to apps sold in the Oculus Store, of course, and it remains to be seen how this more family friendly approach will affect the sales of Rift.
As Inquistr has already reported, the much anticipated Oculus Rift will be available for purchase in 2016.
