The game includes several songs with up to five levels of difficulty, starting from Easy all the way to Expert+. The player uses VR motion controllers to wield a pair of light sabers, the left one colored red and the right one colored blue by default. In each song, the game presents the player with a stream of approaching blocks, laid out in sync with the song's beats and notes, located in one of the 12 possible positions of a 4x3 grid. The game also features the option of playing some songs in 360°, or 90° orientations where blocks approach from around the player. Each block varies in color, corresponding to the color of the saber that should be used to slash it, defaulting to red on the left hand, and blue on the right. It may also be marked with an arrow indicating one of eight possible directions in which the block may be required to be slashed through. There are also blocks with dots instead of arrows, which players may hit in any direction. When a block is properly slashed by a saber, it is destroyed and a score is awarded, based on the length and angles of the swing and the accuracy of the cut. In addition, there are occasionally mines that the player should not hit, and obstacles in the form of oncoming walls that the player's head should avoid. There is also a white bar underneath the path where the blocks travel, which slowly fills up as the player hits notes correctly. If the player hits any note in the incorrect direction, the white 'health bar' will become less full by a small chunk. If the player completely misses a note, the bar will lose a large chunk. If the bar becomes completely empty, the game will end. Since its early access stages, the game included a single player mode as well as a party mode, which features a leaderboard with the player's names, which are entered after each song is played. Additionally, the 1.0 release version introduced a level editor and a practice mode which allows the player to alter the song's speed, or start playing it from some point in time other than the beginning, as well as custom songs.
Release
The game was first released in early access on Microsoft Windows on May 1, 2018. The game was released on PlayStation 4 on November 20, 2018. An editor was announced for release in May 2018, which would allow for the creation of custom user songs, but it was postponed, and added in May 2019. In March 2019, Beat Games released its first paid song pack, featuring 10 songs from electronic music record label Monstercat. "Crab Rave" was added as a free update on April Fools' day that year. On May 2, 2019, to celebrate the game's first anniversary, a prototype version created three years prior was released to the public as Beat Saber Origins. The game was fully released out of early access on PC on May 21, 2019. On January 29, 2020, the game received a free pack featuring three songs by Japanese artist Camellia. On November 26, 2019, Facebook, Inc. via Oculus Studios announced that it had acquired Beat Games. The company stated that the purchase would not affect future development of Beat Saber on third-party VR platforms besides Oculus. Beat Games will continue to operate in Prague as an independent studio, although under the umbrella of Oculus Studios. The studio released the new 360 degree levels on December 14, 2019.
Songs
Community
Viral videos of advanced Beat Saber gameplay circulated around the web. Beat Saber has grown a strong following since its debut, and users have created numerous mods to enhance the game. Also, a number of websites have surfaced, where users distribute beat maps they created themselves, some of them even allowing for this content to be sideloaded onto the Oculus Quest. Beat Saber also has a large and active fan base on reddit gathering over 63,000 members.
Reception
During its early access phase, Beat Saber received numerous positive reviews, becoming the highest rated game on Steam less than a week after its early access release. The game sold over a million copies by March 2019. Edge thought the game was an excellent fit for VR as a medium, writing "At this point in virtual reality's development, it's still rare to encounter a game that feels native to the technology. Beat Saber is an exception." IGN noted that while the game "doesn't push the limits of too far", the game is extremely effective at communicating the appeal of VR, and considered the game "a go-to for introducing anyone to virtual reality." Gamespot noted that at launch the supported song library was "slim", but nevertheless concluded that "Beat Saber is an exhilarating rush and an exhausting game to play in the best way."
