Some sellers of virtual reality headsets have found a new way to attract more buyers, this time by adding porn site links to their devices.
The trend has not escaped the ire of Chinese regulators, with some of the involved e-retailers now facing legal problems, according to the Global Times. In Shenzhen, 19 online vendors have already been charged of illegally distributing VR devices that are bundled with porn videos.
Twenty-seven people have likewise been detained on alleged circulation of porn materials, the Global Times reported, citing data from the Shenzhen People's Procuratorate. Most of the suspects are under 30 years old, some of them even minor.
VR retailers listed on Taobao that were contacted by the Global Times admit to including porn videos in their devices.
"We give you the movies so you can have an extraordinary experience with our devices. It will feel like you are part of the movie," an online seller said.
She added that bundling VR devices with free porn is a common practice among retailers on the said e-commerce platform.
"Most of the retailers do this, and free porn is a big selling point," the unnamed source was quoted as saying by the Global Times.
Explaining how the set-up works, the retailer said that a hard drive is typically sent to the customer containing pornographic files. Porn video links are also sent via QQ or Baidu cloud drive.
"This content is sensitive, we prefer to transfer it to you via chat tools instead of Taobao, which is supervised by Alibaba," revealed the retailer.
"Many people don't come to buy VR devices. They only want porn. But we cannot sell porn directly, so we combine them, and this can give customers a better experience," another seller told the Global Times.
Meanwhile, the porn industry itself is banking heavily on VR devices. Pornhub.com, which is the 65th most-visited website according to Alexa, rolled out a free VR channel.
"Pornhub is one of the biggest distribution channels in the world," Todd Glider, CEO of adult entertainment company BaDoinkVR, told Fortune.
"The addition of a VR category, and BaDoinkVR's award-winning content, will trigger increased consumer uptake and inspire more companies in the space to begin offering virtual reality content. It's a move that lifts all boats."