Prepare to sweat (and probably curse) because Beat Games, the studio behind block-slashing rhythm game Beat Saber (2018), today released a new Expert+ mode to its suite of existing songs on PSVR.

Along with it, the update brings a new option in the settings that allows ‘Reduced Debris’, something the studio says greatly helps visibility in Expert+ by reducing the particle effects so you can get an easier view of incoming blocks.

Jaroslav Beck, the musician behind many of the game’s songs, released a blog video detailing the Expert+ difficulty modes, saying that the update was initially planned a few days before but suffered from an issue surrounding integration of leader boards.

Beck also spoke about the third original soundtrack for Beat Saber. Beck will be in LA in the next weeks to meet “some pretty amazing artists,” but also says free songs are coming too despite the ever-present need to pay revenue shares to artists.

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“I don’t know when this will be ready. This is pretty unpredictable when we will finish the music, it’s [essentially] the same as code. What you need to understand is there will be music packs because we paid to give a revenue share to the artists or to the label and then we would still like to release music that’s never been heard before, and this music will be free with every update,” Beck said.

“I think there will be a lot, lot of music coming,” he concluded.

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Scott Hayden
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.
  • Jistuce

    In before someone complains about mods!

  • HoriZon

    I guess they are working on PSVR more than PC as that’s where the money is.

    • q23main

      Disclaimer: I play on PC.
      Well PSVR version has to be taken care of a lot more than PC because it will most probably never going to have mods. The PC community has taken very good care od BS, and I thank them for that!
      Money – yes I hope they make a ton of CZK, so they have an extra motivation to make more maps and update the game. It’s always great you can make a living doing what you love.
      That said – I do hope those music packs end up on PC.

      • Baldrickk

        Personally, I’d love to see a mod that autogenerates levels from music in your library… Like audiosurf on steroids.

        • q23main

          Actually it doesn’t have to be a mod. BeatMaps are json files, so it could be a separate app to generate those. Of course, BS could use that app via mod for ease of use in-game. Well the modding community i s so inventive I think someone will eventually make something like this.

      • Brian Wright

        The one thing I’m wary of is Song packs giving them incentive to shut down modding on PC. Right now allowing modding only gets them a better community. As soon as they are competing with player made songs…. who knows.

    • Jistuce

      Sony’s paying them for PSVR attention. And Beat Games is porting things back to Windows after the console peasants beta-test them for us.

      The new musics I strongly suspect Sony’s gotten a 1-year exclusive on in exchange for paying development costs.

    • ivan

      Just because PS VR version is worst

    • Jacques

      Oh shut up Horizon. If the PC hadn’t been updated since the release and couldn’t play Expert+ and couldn’t use custom songs or mods: I’m sure people would be saying the exact opposite of you. But in this case, Sony made it difficult for them and us PSVR users are stuck having to wait. Its not like its “more money” than computers. Do you know how many copies they sold to each platform? There’s always someone like you.

      • I do know that PSVR headsets have sold almost 2-to-1 of all the others combined. That in addition that Beat Saber was best selling VR game for Sony and it’s only been out a few month….do the math.

        I personally have been following VR for years, especially since Rift was announced but since I mostly played World of Warcraft I did not have an immediate desire to grab the first releases.

        Then I tried BS on a PSVR. I bought a RIFT the very next day. This game is EXCELLENT on the PSVR but I wanted custom songs (besides, I don’t own a PS4). So, yeah, PC owners got nothing to complain about. The mod community for PC is SO rich (as in depth, not financially) that the PSVR crowd deserves whatever attention they are getting. They need it. It’s just gonna help BeatSaber (and the VR wave in general) continue to thrive.

  • gothicvillas

    I have to say these ps4 expert+ are very well crafted. I never thought playing 100$ bills will be exciting again!!

  • ZippyZion

    Is there a difference in difficulty from PSVR to PC? Because PC’s Expert mode already breaks my arms off and beats me to death with them. I can’t imagine anything harder than Expert mode. Heck, I’ve never scored anything above a B on any expert song… well aside from once on the single saber mode, but that was like 15 Mountain Dews, 4 cups of coffee, and a Red Bull in…

    • Bamux

      The Expert+ songs are much more difficult, I would say for someone who is already struggling with Expert they are impossible to win without extremely long training.

  • puzzlepaint

    With all the news about Beat Saber, one should not forget about similar games like Soundboxing. Personally I like Soundboxing better than Beat Saber, and it has a huge selection of music thanks to the in-built editor and working with any Youtube video. While overall the game isn’t as polished as Beat Saber is, that doesn’t prevent the core gameplay from being more fun (in my opinion).
    – A Soundboxing fan ;)

    • DisqusSuqs

      Gaping issue: Where’s the PSVR version?

  • Jacques

    Game designers always say they’re “not sure when”, but the truth is they could make a guess. A week? A month? A year? I can only hope most fans like myself simply want a time frame to expect, not an actual specific day that must be adhered to.