The VR rhythm genre is getting kind of crowded, with many developers looking to replicate Beat Saber’s ‘hit the thing to the beat’ money machine. Enter Beat the Beats, a project indeed inspired by Meta’s seminal block-slashing game, although with its own flair that really seems to set it apart from the competition.

Update (February 27th, 2024): Beat the Beats is now available on PSVR 2. Developer Parallel Circles released a new launch trailer for the game, confirming the launch includes six albums and a range of other features like leaderboards and daily mixes.

The studio has affirmed that Beat the Beats will launch on Quest and PC VR headsets later this year.

Original Article (February 16th, 2024): The UK/Spain-based indie Parallel Circles announced Beat the Beats is set to launch on PSVR 2 this month, with version for Quest 2/3/Pro and SteamVR slated to arrive later this year.

We’ve already played the free demo on Steam, and it definitely proves to not only be a stylish experience, but a pretty great sweat-inducing workout too.

Like you can see in the trailer above, it’s a fairly simple setup: hit the incoming block with either your green or pink-colored fist, block the purple slashes, and dodge the big red and black prisms. Miss a note, and the giant curved display in front of you flashes red.

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It’s certainly another thing playing it though, as you start to click into the vibe of the oddly entrancing minimalist environment punctuated by the particle explosions of each block as you smash them from seemingly all conceivable incoming angles. Sound effects are definitely point too, with the red-black prisms throwing out a fun little bassy whizz as they fly past your head, seemingly inspired by the light cycles from Tron.

It’s undoubtedly an impressive first demo, which we’ll be hoping to dig more into when it releases on PSVR 2 later this month, and later on Quest and SteamVR. For now, you can play the PC VR demo too if you have a VR-ready computer and headset, such as a Quest 2/3/Pro, Pico 4, or Valve Index. You can also now wishlist Beat the Beats on the PlayStation Store.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Christian Schildwaechter

    I feel kind of cheated by the trailer not delivering the psychedelic Yeti the thumbnail promised, so I’ll leave you with Major Lazer’s “Light it up” for a new level of particle based furrydom. youtu_be/r2LpOUwca94

    • Kenny

      Quenched

    • We also think it is kinda sad that you can’t play our game mascot. They are called Pelucho btw

      • Christian Schildwaechter

        Dinanthropoides nivalis peluchoii (psychedelicus)

  • BloozMaster3000

    Lame

    • Oh no, sad to hear you say that. We put 3 years into this game and are pretty proud of what we did

      • Cix

        So many comments on this site are negative lol. Game looks cool Josef!

  • Tonanamous

    “Undoubtably Cool’ and “Impressive” are not words that come to mind when watching the video… but it is definitely “Set apart from the competition”. Not sure if this was what I was hoping for with the lack of good content on the PSVR2.

    • We hope it is setting itself apart. The thing we are the most proud of is the boxing itself. You will feel like a boxing pro in no time

  • Leisure Suit Barry

    Is it 2016 or 2024?

    Funnily enough I have more hair now than I did in 2016 so who knows!

  • PneumaPilot

    Bring back Audica on Quest!

  • Nick

    so freaking lame …

    • Sorry to hear that you think it is lame. We are pretty proud with what we achieved actually. Especially the natural feeling boxing moves.

  • Ballsy VR

    I wish people would stop creating AI art for their games, it’s getting old now.

    • All of this is created by ourselves or contract work. No AI involved. Now that you mention it we might start using it more

    • DrSanning

      Haha you are not going to like the future, it will be 99% AI art.

  • Thanks for playing our game Scott! And very glad you liked what you’ve seen ❤️

  • Jeff

    I definitely love seeing new VR games, so Josef don’t take this personally (step away from the keyboard for a bit), but I feel like I’ve seen this exact time of thing tried over and over again every since Beat Saber was originally teased in development so long ago. I’m sure a lot of work went into this, and regardless of how good the execution is, most people are never even going to try it because of how often this format has been iterated over the years.

  • Ender772

    A new…beatsaber clone…the most abundant type of game already on the market…lol