Few apps have made a stronger case for virtual reality as a fitness tool than Supernatural, and few looked as vulnerable when Meta stopped adding new content earlier this year. Now the app is back. It has relaunched on Meta headsets as an early access release, run by an independent company rather than a big platform owner.
That matters beyond VR enthusiasts. Supernatural is one of the clearest examples of a consumer headset app that people used regularly, week after week, for exercise. Whether it can stand on its own financially is a useful test for the wider VR fitness category.
What the relaunch includes
The early access build already has thousands of workouts, including a batch of remastered favorites. Members can choose from hundreds of music tracks and work out in a new virtual environment based on a glacial lake. The team says new workouts will arrive every week, with the first batch landing at the end of the month. Many “back-catalog favorites” are due to return in the “weeks and months ahead.”
Returning users get some continuity. Existing points, badges and fitness streaks can be transferred, which is a small detail but a meaningful one for an app that relies on habit and motivation. Up to four people in a single household can share one headset, which suits families or couples who want some friendly competition without buying extra hardware.
Pricing and availability
A subscription costs $20 per month or $200 per year. That matches the original price when Supernatural first launched in 2020. For context, it sits above many general fitness apps, but it is in line with boutique studio memberships and well below personal training. The pitch is simple: a guided, music-driven workout at home, with the headset doing the work of keeping you engaged.
The app is available now on Meta VR headsets in early access, so expect some rough edges and missing features.
What’s still on the way
Not everything has returned. The company is rebuilding its real-time workout platform, which lets people exercise with friends online. It is in testing and won’t be available for a while. A mobile companion app for tracking fitness progress is also in development, and more virtual environments are planned over the coming weeks.
- Real-time multiplayer workouts: in testing
- Mobile companion app for progress tracking: in development
- Additional virtual environments: coming in the next few weeks
- Back-catalog workouts: returning over the coming weeks and months
The social features may be the most important gap. Exercise adherence often depends on accountability, and live sessions with friends are one of the few ways a solo headset workout can replicate a class. Until that returns, Supernatural is a strong guided workout but a less social one.
Why it matters
CEO James Senior put it plainly: “It’s not every day you get to make a comeback, but thanks to the Supernatural community, that’s exactly what we’re doing.” The community did appear to drive this outcome, which says something about how loyal fitness users can be when an app fits into their routine.
For clinicians, VR exercise is still a niche tool, and strong evidence for long-term health outcomes is limited. But for patients who find gyms intimidating or repetitive workouts dull, an engaging option has obvious value. For health entrepreneurs, the lesson is about sustainability. A product can have devoted users and still lose its corporate backing, and independence brings both freedom and financial pressure.
Supernatural and Beat Saber were pretty much the killer apps for VR in the early 2020s. It’s good to see both still going. Whether Supernatural can keep growing as a small independent company is the next question, and the answer will take more than one early access release.