Beat Saber Sells 4 Million Copies, Possibly Most Of Any VR Game

Virtual reality rhythm game Beat Saber has cut through the VR competition to sell over 4 million copies since its release, a first for any VR game to date. Beat Saber’s success on PC, Oculus Quest, and the PSVR is a reassuring sign that the still-struggling virtual reality niche of the gaming industry is still in contention for mainstream success.

The lovechild and only major project of indie studio Beat Games, Beat Saber took the physical rhythmic gameplay of Dance Dance Revolution with the mechanics of Beatmania, added a dash of Star Wars, and mixed it together in glorious VR. Because of the physical aspect of the gameplay, it was an ideal fit for the relatively new world of virtual reality. Facebook was quick to pick up on that as well, especially when Beat Saber gained positive critical reception during its early access release and sold a million copies within its first few months, which led to the social media giant buying Beat Games to develop exclusive content for Facebook’s VR system, the Oculus Quest.

Beat Saber continued to enjoy significant success on the Quest and on other VR headsets as well, including the PlayStation 4’s PSVR and the HTC Vive. Its dedicated community also expanded the game’s song library further by modding it to allow custom songs, which other players immediately jumped on. So while VR wasn’t exactly thriving in the same way that other consoles were, Beat Saber stood alongside Half-Life: Alyx to keep virtual reality above water. And to the excitement of Beat Games, Beat Saber managed to sell 4 million copies since its release, which the studio promptly announced on Twitter.

It’s great news for Beat Games, but rather unsurprising for anyone who grew up in the golden age of Dance Dance Revolution, a phenomenon with long-lasting effects on the gaming industry as a whole. Rhythm games will always be popular, and virtual reality was practically built for physically interactive games like Beat Saber. And sure, it didn’t manage to snag the VR Game of the Year title, but if it helps keep virtual reality from fading into obscurity thanks to studio heads who have no interest in it, so much the better.

So the future is looking good for Beat Saber, Beat Games, and VR in general. Other developers are starting to take note of what virtual reality can do, and considering open-world games are getting bigger and more complex, bringing them to VR can offer players the chance to experience such vast worlds the way they were always meant to be experienced.

Source: BeatSaber

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