Facebook closing two fifths of Best Buy Oculus demo stations

A report from Business Insider claims that Facebook are closing around 200 of the 500 Oculus Rift demo stations in Best Buy stores in US, after workers from Best Buy Pop Ups claimed that they would go days without a single demonstration.

An internal memo seen by BI and sent to affected employees by a third-party contractor said the closings were because of "store performance," however, Oculus Spokeswoman Andrea Schubert confirmed the closings were due to "Seasonal Changes".

"We're making some seasonal changes and prioritising demos at hundreds of Best Buy locations in larger markets," she said. "You can still request Rift demos at hundreds of Best Buy stores in the US and Canada. We still believe the best way to learn about VR is through a live demo. We're going to find opportunities to do regular events and pop ups in retail locations and local communities throughout the year."

Best Buy spokeswoman Carly Charlson has stated that stores that do not have the demonstrations will continue to sell the Rift and Touch controllers. The partnership between Oculus and Best Buy bloomed in April 2016, and although only 48 of its stores distributed the headset initially, this soon expanded to become 500 by August.

Multiple "Oculus Ambassador" workers said that, at most, they would sell a few Oculus headsets per week during the holiday season, which would then go on to dramatically decrease after Christmas.

"There'd be some days where I wouldn't give a demo at all because people didn't want to," stated one Best Buy employee. Another stated that the rift was full of bugs and glitches making it unusable. What does this mean for Oculus Rift moving forward?