11 OCTOBER 2023 – AUCKLAND: Global fitness leader Les Mills has today launched LES MILLS BODYCOMBAT XR – the latest instalment of its breakout VR fitness app – boasting groundbreaking new features for the META Quest 3 headset.
Developed with XR gaming specialist Odders, the new app builds on the success of BODYCOMBAT VR, which is the world’s best-selling VR fitness app, winning celebrity fans such as professional boxer Tommy Fury and being crowned META Quest’s Best App of 2022.
The BODYCOMBAT XR app offers all the immersive workout thrills from the previous instalment, as well as Mixed Reality (MR) mode – a game-changing feature that fuses the user’s real environment with the virtual training space, providing a previously unimaginable MR workout experience.
VIEW LES MILLS BODYCOMBAT XR TRAILER
META Founder Mark Zuckerberg spotlighted the BODYCOMBAT XR app as an example of next-level innovation during his launch of the META Quest 3 headset in California. Zuckerberg showed how the headset’s new functionality enables users to choose between fully-immersive VR and innovative MR that brings high-octane gameplay into your real-world setting as targets and walls fly towards them.
As the world’s most popular martial arts workout, BODYCOMBAT™ is enjoyed by millions globally each week across thousands of the world’s top gyms. Led by the workout’s legendary program directors Rachael Newsham and Dan Cohen – BODYCOMBAT XR pits players against martial arts challenges across a variety of levels, spanning intergalactic deserts and neo-city skylines. Players earn points for their effort and technique, with Rachael and Dan providing coaching cues and motivation to power them through the workouts.
Rachael Newsham and Dan Cohen, Program Directors of BODYCOMBAT, said: “Get ready for the workout of your life! BODYCOMBAT XR takes your fitness to a whole new dimension, combining the best of VR with the exciting new possibilities of MR to bring epic battles out of the headset and into your living room.”
“The BODYCOMBAT XR app brings a fist-full of thrills as you’re transported into the middle of the most popular martial arts workout on the planet. Gamification and next-level innovation combine with the incredible moves, music and instruction that BODYCOMBAT is famous for, creating an exhilarating experience that’s so fun you forget you’re even exercising.
“Our mission at Les Mills is to create a fitter planet and we hope the launch of the BODYCOMBAT XR app enables us to continue to reach new audiences and break down barriers to exercise, helping more people to start their fitness journey and reap the rewards of an active lifestyle.”
Jaime Pichardo Garcia, Odders Lab Business Director added: “We’ve always strived to pioneer in quality and innovation, and the new MR mode on the Meta Quest 3 allowed us to take the BODYCOMBAT XR workouts to new heights, allowing for bigger and safer ranges of motion for the users. Go even harder without worrying about your surroundings, enjoy the lighter weight on the headset, and get a feel of your own home gym with a virtual portal into the world of BODYCOMBAT XR”
The BODYCOMBAT XR app is available now to purchase in the Quest Store (US$29.99). A Quest 3 headset is required to play the game to its full functionality. Existing owners of BODYCOMBAT VR will automatically receive a free update to the new version.
The game features 25 training sessions ranging from basic to advanced levels, hosted across stunning environments including a desert on Mars, a desolate snowy tundra, ancient Rome, and an evening in a Tokyo-inspired neo city.
Standout features of the game include:
BODYCOMBAT’S SIGNATURE STYLE
The BODYCOMBAT XR app goes beyond jabs, hooks, and uppercuts, with new punch moves and knee strikes added to the dynamic fitness session. Squat and slip to dodge walls, throw sky punches to break targets, ram home hammer punches, and grab targets to slam with your knee!
LEVELS FOR ALL ABILITIES
Access all types of workouts – including boxing fitness, speed workouts, core exercises, lower body, and more. With over 50 workout plans, BODYCOMBAT XR is suited for everyone, from beginners to advanced enthusiasts.
UNBEATABLE RESULTS
All workouts are scientifically-designed to deliver results, with players able to track their performance and progress throughout the app experience.
FIRST-CLASS COACHES
World-famous Instructors Dan Cohen & Rachael Newsham are on hand to help hone technique and motivate players to push through each and every workout.
AMAZING MUSIC
Specially-curated soundtracks featuring the hottest up-and-coming artists like Noam Dee and Fas Fash, curated to boost motivation and energy during workouts.
STUNNING VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS
11 dreamlike, breathtaking settings to enrich the workout experience, with the promise of more environments in future updates.
MEDIA REQUESTS: press@lesmills.com
WHAT IS EXTENDED REALITY (XR)?
You might be familiar with the concept of VR, where everything around you is virtual. In this new era of technology, XR refers to Extended Reality, where your surroundings become enhanced with the addition of virtual elements you interact with for a Mixed Reality experience.
ABOUT LES MILLS
Les Mills is the global leader in group fitness and creator of over 25 programs available in leading fitness facilities around the world. Les Mills programs include the world’s first group exercise resistance training workout BODYPUMP™, BODYCOMBAT™ (martial arts), RPM™ (indoor cycling), BODYBALANCE™ (yoga), LES MILLS GRIT™ (30-minute high-intensity interval training) and the revolutionary immersive cycle experience, THE TRIP™. Each workout is refreshed and updated with new choreography and music every three months.
The company was founded by Les Mills – a four-time Olympian and head coach of New Zealand’s track and field team – who opened his first gym in 1968 with the aim of taking elite sports training to the masses. Today, Les Mills workouts are delivered by 130,000 certified instructors in 21,000 clubs across 100 countries, as well as via the LES MILLS+ streaming platform and Extended Reality (XR).
ABOUT ODDERS
Odders is an innovative XR development studio creating unique titles with a spin. Based in Seville, Spain, we develop consistent products with a spin by adding unique characteristics that make our titles stand out from the crowd.
With this focus on innovation, it was just a no-brainer to create a partnership with LES MILLS to bring the most innovative fitness experience to the XR market.