Announced on its blog, Epic Games revealed it acquired Harmonix, the studio behind music games for both traditional and VR platforms. Some of the studio’s notable games include the Rock Band franchise (including Rock Band VR), VR rhythm game Audica and Oculus Quest launch title Dance Central.
And yes, the “metaverse” (the buzzword of the moment) even got a mention in the announcement post:
Harmonix has a track record of creating fun and engaging music experiences designed for everyone to enjoy. As we work to build the metaverse, this expertise is needed to reimagine how music is experienced, created and distributed.
Don’t get too excited just yet — we don’t know yet whether Harmonix will be working on content we’ll consume in a VR headset. Epic Games says the studio will “collaborate closely with Epic to develop musical journeys and gameplay for Fortnite.”
Harmonix also clarified on its own blog that it will continue to support existing older games while also confirming the focus on ‘musical journeys’ for Fortnite. “While we’re not ready to share any specifics, the whole team is incredibly excited to get started. Stay tuned!”
Epic Games is one of the biggest game companies in the world — it’s behind the Unreal Engine game development toolset and the aforementioned battle-royale-turned-IP-crossover shooter Fortnite.
The cord-free, standalone Meta Quest system is one of the best options for VR fitness, exercise and workout routines. Here are our picks the best Quest 2 fitness and exercise apps to get your blood pumping.
[This article was originally published in March 2020. It was edited and updated in March 2021 and again in February 2022.]
The following list is in no particular order, however there are two general categories of apps on the list.
The first category is apps that are specifically designed for working out in VR — usually with specifically designed sessions that you follow for a workout session.
The second is incidental workout apps — apps and experiences that weren’t designed specifically for working out, but can be used in such a way because they get the blood pumping enough when played at a high intensity.
Despite all these new additions, the basic premise has always remained the same — it’s features rhythm-based boxing, dance and HIIT routines that gives you points for speed and accuracy. In July last year, the app also added a bunch of notable artists to its music catalog, including Calvin Harris and Tiesto.
FitXR is free to download on the Quest Store, with a subscription-based service in place for access to workouts. There’s a 7-day free trial for new users.
Let’s not beat around the saber – initially, Supernatural started out as a fitness-focused Beat Saber clone. Notes fly at you in time with music, which you have to hit in-time using bats and occasionally you’ll be forced to squat to avoid obstacles. However, the service has since added new boxing workout as well, expanding its offering of guided coach workouts.
Every 24 hours, there’s a new workout playlist/routine for you to run through. The aim is to get you sweating with big arm swings and quick squats. The better you perform, the harder the routine will get, thanks to Supernatural’s adaptive difficulty.
Supernatural is free to download on Quest, but is only currently available in select regions. Access to workouts uses a subscription pricing model, with a free trial period for new users.
One of the newer entries on the list, Les Mills Bodycombat is an attractive option for those looking to avoid a subscription model.
The app is brought to you by the Les Mills brand, which has gyms globally as well as a substantial online workout offering. The Quest Bodycombat app adapts one of these online workout classes into 30 boxing workouts for VR, available as a one-off purchase.
You’ll be punching and squatting to the beat of the music, with the option to select a playlist between five and 20 minutes. It’s not the most original VR workout option, but it gets the basics right in a polished experience available for a one-time price.
If you’re looking to pair a physical fitness machine with a virtual workout, then Holofit is one of two apps that lets you do so. The app pairs your headset with compatible bikes, elipticals and rowing machines, allowing you to use your physical machines in a virtual location.
However, even without any machines, the app also has HIIT, fat burn and time-attack programs that see you recreate skiing, running or cycling using movements with the Touch controllers.
Holofit is available on Quest via a yearly or monthly subscription model with a 7-day trial for new users.
VZFit
Another option for connecting physical machines and fitness trackers, VZFit uses Google Street View to let you virtually exercise anywhere you want. The app has Strava and Fitbit support, alongside connectivity with “most smart bike devices and trainer sensors.”
There’s also full body workouts and support for an optional cadence sensor, which you’ll have to buy separately, that allows you to connect a stationary exercise bike that’s missing smart bike functionality.
VZFit is available for Quest with a 7-day free trial and $9.99 monthly subscription.
Beat Saber was definitely never intended to be used as a workout app, but there’s a significant amount of people who use it for just that. A couple of levels on Expert or Expert+ in Beat Saber will get your heart rate pumping like there’s no tomorrow.
Beat Saber is available for Oculus Quest for $29.99.
Synth Riders is, yes, another VR rhythm game and while it takes some visual notes from Beat Saber and other entries in the genre, the gameplay is quite different. You’ll hit floating spheres to the rhythm of the music, and move your hands in circular or curved motions to follow tails that fly off each sphere. It’s similar in concept to other rhythm games, but with its own spin.
The game has implemented a variety of fitness-focused features, such as a calorie counter and a fitness update that arrived earlier this year and included live VR workout sessions, guided by a trainer.
Jamie described this game as “Beat Saber for your body” and said it was a “genuinely authentic fitness game.” It’s not a workout in the traditional sense, but it will get your blood flowing as you throw your body around to the music, fitting and moving yourself into all different shapes.
With the intensity ramped up, you might end up burning calories faster than some of the other fitness games on this list.
Pistol Whip might seem like a strange entry for a VR exercise list at first, but play a couple of the levels on harder difficulty and you’ll quickly see how Pistol Whip could qualify as a workout. The ducking and constant quick movements will have your glutes and quads burning after a long session.
While not designed as a fitness app, Until You Fall is a VR roguelike that will have you hacking and slashing in heart-racing melee combat. At its most intense, the game should offer you something comparable to a light upper body workout. That being said, its roguelike mechanics means it’s more game-y than other entries on this list. If you’re looking for something fun to play that also gives you a bit of a workout along the way, Until You Fall might be best.
There are a number of boxing games available on the Quest, but The Thrill of the Fight uses mechanics that aims to be more of a true-to-life simulator in a boxing ring, as opposed to a workout-first approach to VR boxing. A few rounds in the ring and you’ll be sweating profusely. We definitely prefer this one over Creed VR on Quest.
Oculus Move isn’t a VR workout app, but rather a feature that will let you track your progress, workouts and calories burned while in VR. It was announced in 2020 at Facebook Connect and should work Quest-wide on all of your apps. It’s a good option to natively track your fitness and workout sessions in VR across all activity on Quest.
Oculus Move can be enabled in the Quest system settings.
What are you favorite Quest exercise apps that keep you active in a VR workout session? Let us know in the comments.
So normally VRFocus would publish this kind of article at the start of the year, just as everyone has made their new years resolution to be a bit healthier, eat better and exercise a bit more. Usually, all that has come crashing down by the end of January, it’s still cold and miserable outside and the thought of going for a run or even attempting the gym seems like a herculean task. So why not take a different approach, stay inside, grab the virtual reality (VR) headset and maybe, just maybe, enjoy working up a sweat.
To help in this task without spending too much cash, VRFocus has selected the best VR titles which will move that body of yours. Some are sports videogames – no not leisurely fishing ones – while others involve shooting stuff, dancing and even causing a bit of carnage in a bid to help justify that Friday night pizza.
Pistol Whip
Here’s a videogame that certainly doesn’t fit into the category of fitness but to truly succeed standing on the spot just isn’t an option. Pistol Whipis a rhythm-action experience using guns, where you have to survive levels killing all the opponents on route, all to some thumping tunes.
These enemies shoot back so you’ll need to be light on your feet to dodge bullets as well as return fire. On the harder levels, Pistol Whip is a good full-body cardio workout because if you don’t put the effort in you’ll fail.
Supported platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality
BoxVR
Here’s the first proper training VR app on this list, taking the sport of boxing and combining it with rhythm action gameplay. You can choose from 45 workouts depending on how vigorous a session you want. These vary in length from short three-minute warmups to 60+ minute endurance workouts, there’s enough choice depending on how many calories you want to burn. Great for the upper body, you can even use your own tunes.
Supported platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality and PlayStation VR
Beat Saber
This title is almost a de facto purchase for anyone new to VR or looking for a fun, energetic experience. There’s no denying the fact that swinging a couple of swords around to music is terribly addictive, easily making time fly for some entertaining exercise. Like a lot of these titles, it’s only on the higher difficulty levels that you’ll really burn some calories. Anything less than Expert just won’t cut it.
Supported platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality and PlayStation VR
Racket: Nx
A futuristic take on squash Racket: Nxputs you inside a giant dome with hexagonal wall panels which light up according to the mode and difficulty. Some panels score points, some remove health and others replace health, offering a nice gameplay mixture which isn’t solely about smashing a ball. There are single-player and multiplayer modes helping up that competitive edge, just make sure you have plenty of space to play in.
Supported platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality
Thrill of the Fight
While BoxVR merely used a boxing theme to workout to, Thrill of the Fightputs you slap bang in the middle of the ring. This is one of those titles which doesn’t offer lots of flashy extras, just you and an opponent to punch it out. There are training areas with a speedball, punching bag and more to fine-tune your skills. The fights themselves are some of the best you’ll get in VR, no arms flailing here, you need to be accurate and punch with intention.
Supported platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality
Sprint Vector
Before getting fit in VR was really a thing if you wanted to burn some calories and get your sweat on then Survios’ Sprint Vector was one of the best ways to do it. Designed around the idea of looking for a novel way for people to move in VR without feeling nauseous, Sprint Vectorutilised arm swinging as a means of propulsion alongside gliding and climbing mechanics.
With a game show vibe and a competitive edge, Sprint Vector is ideally suited to those who want more than just a training regime.
Supported platforms: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR
Gorn
The most brutal title on this list, there’s no music here – unless for some reason blood splatter counts – as Gornis a gladiatorial combat experience. Gameplay is all about survival, using an assortment of melee weapons to decapitate, dismember, smash, stab, rip or slice opponents to bits. As such there’s plenty of effort involved, especially once the arena starts to fill up with opponents. After a few matches, you’ll soon feel the burn.
Supported platforms: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality and PlayStation VR
Synth Riders
Time for another rhythm-action videogame, this time going for a retro 80s vibe. Featuring the most Synth Wave tracks of any VR title – other genres like DubStep are included – Synth Ridersis best described as neon-drenched cheerleader gaming. The standard mode has you matching coloured orbs, while featuring more of a boxing theme, having to punch the orbs as well.
Synth Riders gets you moving to some very catchy beats – 30 to choose from – so you’ll want to rest those arms after a good session.
Supported platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality
Creed: Rise to Glory
Float like and butterfly and sting like a bee in one of the more realistic experiences in this fitness selection. Creed: Rise to Gloryby Survios puts you in the film, able to train with the likes of Rocky Balboa, before heading into the ring to see if you’ve got the skills to last. A high energy videogame which certainly requires effort, here you have both single-player campaign and free play modes plus online PvP matchmaking for plenty of gameplay options.
Supported platforms: Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR
Dance Central
There’s no denying that you can get your dancing shoes on to any of the rhythm-action titles on this list. But to really strut that funky stuff like you mean it then you’ll want to try Dance Central. Brought back to life just for Oculus’ headsets, a 32 song soundtrack covers the 1970s the way through to today’s chart-toppers. Routines have been choreographed for each song providing a nice full-body aerobic workout.
During our E3 VR Showcase today Harmonix announced that both its dancing VR game Dance Central and shooter-themed musical rhythm game Audica are getting new DLC releases.
For Dance Central the new DLC features include an official fitness app to track calories burned while playing and stats over time. They’re also evolving the game so that NPCs can challenge you to dance as well instead of just your real life friends to make unlocking new gear easier. And finally, Harmonix will be releasing six brand new songs for the game bringing the overall total up from 32 to 38. All of this is coming to both Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift platforms. For more on Dance Central, make sure and read our full review of the Quest version.
For Audica, the updates are quite a bit different. Since the game is still in Early Access its updates have been far more frequent with 10 total so far to date. Now later this month, it’s due to get its biggest update yet. The new update includes all-new songs, a new environment to play in, new weapons to alter the gameplay, and a revamped leaderboard.
Today, Audica is also getting an in-game editor to remix included songs which should offer enhanced replayability. Players can even share their custom song maps with the community as well. There’s even a community contest with prizes for custom maps.
Harmonix seems very committed to improving and updating both of these games, which is a great sign. Combined with the updates that Beat Saber continues to receive now is a good time to be a music game fan in VR.
(Update 05/19/19): This was previously a review-in-progress published on 4/30/19, but has since been updated to reflect my full impressions of the entire game.
Dance Central VR was one of the real stand out demos that I tried at GDC this year. When I walked into that hotel suite and put on an Oculus Quest headset to be treated to the latest VR music experience from Harmonix, I was certainly excited.
Now that I’ve had plenty of extended time with the Oculus Quest and access to the full version of Dance Central VR to mess around with, I’ve got much more robust impressions of the dancing game.
This entire review was conducted using the Oculus Quest version of the game in various rooms and environments, all standing in roomscale arrangements.
Dance Central VR is designed to be played in short bursts, but you can easily sink a few hours into it at a time if you really want to. There isn’t much of a story or campaign mode from what I found, but instead it’s about more subtle progression and immersion. As you explore different areas of the dance club and various surrounding buildings you’ll meet different NPCs that want to dance with you.
Each of the characters have their own unique personalities and voices that really do feel distinct and meeting each of them is part of the fun. As you dance with them more and more you’ll unlock new wardrobe options for yourself, different cell phone skins, and even dialogue choices for your text conversations. It seems silly, but when I had new texts from my favorite characters it genuinely made me a bit excited, sort of like getting a text from a friend in real life. Even if it was just a stupid selfie the fictional character took at the club.
Harmonix aren’t doing anything fancy from an AI perspective to make these characters really feel real by any means, but small things like that made a big difference for me. It made me actually want to log back in just to see what’s going on and kept me checking the floating virtual phone.
The actual dancing bits were a lot of fun, if a little simple. Dancing is split between two difficulty modes, Normal and Pro, but I found myself wishing for something in between. Most songs were extremely easy to get 5-star ratings on your first try on Normal, if not your second. However playing songs on Pro, which offer far less guidance and change moves very quickly, was a bit overwhelming at first. You get used to it after a while, but a third option, or even a super high-end choice to not have any cue cards at all requiring choreography memorization, would have been great.
There are 32 songs in the game, including:
Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B — “Finesse (Remix)”
The Chainsmokers ft. Daya — “Don’t Let Me Down”
DJ Snake & Lil Jon — “Turn Down for What”
Haddaway — “What is Love”
Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, & Nayer — “Give Me Everything”
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock — “It Takes Two”
Since I played on Quest the tracking did seem to have some limitations. A lot of dance moves ask you to spread your arms out wide and make a fist or twist them a certain way, but the tracking cameras seemed to miss those movements occasionally. The same goes for any sweeping gestures down below or up high. Generally if I made a conscience effort to keep my hands in front of me and not too far above, below, or to the side it didn’t matter, but you don’t want to be thinking about your hand placement around you when you’re trying to dance.
Visually it looks really good, but on the Quest I noticed some performance issues here and there. Frame drops were a problem during some songs and if the battery was running low (say 25% or lower) they seemed more frequent. I also perceived the fixed foveated rendering very obviously in Dance Central VR — something that was much less noticeable in other games.
Outside of dancing there is a wardrobe to customize your look, as well as multiplayer lobbies to queue up with other dancers. The social hub is a cool, fun place to hang out and talk, but then you can also have private dance battles with a variety of rulesets to pick from. You can even dance alongside a friend for co-op dances too so it’s not all competitive.
For players that want to get particularly serious about their dance moves there is also a studio. Here you can break down songs into their individual parts and dance moves and practice them in slow motion. The trainer will even show the arcs of your hand movements so you can clearly tell what you’re doing wrong. It’s a great training tool, but it never felt intense enough to really warrant that kind of belabored practice to me. I had more fun just dancing and acting silly.
Final Score:7/10 – Good
As it stands, Dance Central VR doesn’t nail every move, but it more than sticks the landing when it comes to getting you moving and grooving to the beat of the music in VR. When you slide on a headset and let the music take over it’s genuinely easy to forget where you are in real life as you dance along to the rhythm. I’m a terrible dancer, but Dance Central VR made me feel like I knew what I was doing. It’s got some technical hiccups and it’s a bit meandering in its focus, but the core mechanics are a lot of fun.
Dance Central VR launches on May 21 for Oculus Quest and Rift S — this review is based on the Oculus Quest version. Read our Game Review Guidelines for more information on how we arrived at this score.
The Oculus Quest standalone headset is expected to launch soon – even though Oculus is still saying Spring 2019 for now – and in preparation for this the company has now teased fans with a new sizzle reel showcasing some new launch titles.
Titles like Creed: Rise to Glory and Space Pirate Trainer have already been out a while, so a lot of VR gamers have likely tried some of the older releases. Owlchemy Lab’s latest Vacation Simulatoris brand new with the studio only just revealing the launch dates for the PlayStation VR and PC VR versions. Coatsink’s Shadow Point, on the other hand, is being built specifically for the Oculus Quest, offering a mystery puzzle adventure into the stars.
And for those with a really keen eye keep a look out for a flurry of videogame images right at the end, through the Oculus Quest lenses. VRFocus managed to spot what looks like The Tower, Job Simulator, Fruit Ninja, Rush VR, Ultrawings, Drop Dead,Bait!, Virtual Virtual Reality, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Eleven Table Tennis, and Angry Birds VR. All making for quite the VR launch lineup.
Oculus did previously say that Quest would feature 50+ titles for its launch, so there’s certainly a few more still to be announced. The headset will be retailing from $399 when it does arrive, with many expecting that announcement to be made during the Facebook Developers Conference (F8) in April.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of Oculus Quest and its latest VR titles, reporting back with all the latest announcements.
I’m not a good dancer. You can ask anyone that went to school with me, attended my wedding, or were ever unfortunate enough to witness me playing any of the various Just Dance or Dance Central games and they’ll all agree that I just can’t dance. But that didn’t stop me from having fun with Dance Central VR.
At GDC 2019 last week I met with Harmonix at an offsite demo suite to check out this new iteration of their popular dancing rhythm game and was delighted to find it running on not only the Oculus Rift, but also the Oculus Quest.
Check it out for yourself:
For a game that’s suddenly been announced out of nowhere there’s a lot of meat on its bones. With 32 songs at launch ranging from well-known modern hits to classic dance jams it’s shaping up to have a really solid track list. So far that includes:
During my demo Harmonix also showed me the Wardrobe where you can deck out your avatar with various clothes and outfits you’ve unlocked as well as a multitude of hair styles and even different cell phone skins. There’s a dance studio too for practicing where you can break down songs into segments and slow them down to really nail the dance moves. Each song will have two difficulties and they’re including high score leaderboards.
Harmonix told me that Dance Central VR is being partially funded by Oculus as an Oculus Studios title which means it will include fully cross-platform multiplayer and will be 100% cross buy so if you own it on one headset then you’ll own it on both. This also means that it’s an exclusive to the Oculus Home Store.
For someone that likes music games a lot such as Beat Saber, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, DDR, and the original Dance Central games, this new VR iteration feels fantastic. Dance Central VR will be hitting Quest on day one as a launch title and coming to Rift at the exact same time as well.
If you’re going to PAX East, you can check it out for yourself. And don’t forget to let us know what you think down in the comments below!
Dance Central, the rhythm game franchise from Harmonix, is officially coming to Oculus Quest and Rift this year with the aptly named Dance Central VR. Who knows, you may even learn to dance?
Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect: In the Studio, users can practice their moves either alone, or in front of an assistive UI to analyze dance performance, a bunch of which looks super gestural-based. Heading to the Club then brings you to a number of spaces with different dancers; this is where users will dance competitively to post high scores on leaderboards.
Image courtesy Harmonix
The Lounge is where you can host private and public dance parties for up to four people and also play a number of mini-games.
Dance Central VR is said to offer competitive and co-op multiplayer, and solo game modes too. It’ll be interesting to see how well dancing works, considering leg tracking isn’t something Quest or Rift can do. This most likely means the game is using an inverse kinematics system that’s guessing where your legs are while tracking your hands and head.
Image courtesy Harmonix
Dance Central VR is also promising a 32-song soundtrack with everything from 1970s chart-toppers to today’s hits. Harmonix has released these tracks publicly so far:
Bruno Mars ft. Cardi B — “Finesse (Remix)”
The Chainsmokers ft. Daya — “Don’t Let Me Down”
DJ Snake & Lil Jon — “Turn Down for What”
Haddaway — “What is Love”
Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, & Nayer — “Give Me Everything”
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock — “It Takes Two”
It’s uncertain if Dance Central VR will be considered a Quest launch day title or not, although it’s slated to release in Spring 2019, the same launch window as both Quest and Rift S.
To help in this task without spending too much cash, 
BoxVR
Beat Saber
Thrill of the Fight
Sprint Vector
Synth Riders
Creed: Rise to Glory
Dance Central
