Supernatural prepares to relaunch as an independent VR fitness company
Supernatural is preparing to relaunch independently with its VR workouts, coaches and community after Meta scaled back the fitness platform.
Supernatural is preparing to relaunch as an independent company after Meta announced plans earlier this year to cut staff and pause new content for the virtual reality fitness platform. The move gives the exercise app another opportunity to continue operating, despite uncertainty surrounding its future under Meta.
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The service, which has developed a loyal following among VR fitness users, will return with a higher subscription price. Membership will cost US$20 a month or US$200 a year, returning to the pricing used when the platform originally launched. Existing and new subscribers can also become Founding Members for US$180 for their first year.
Supernatural plans to restore its existing fitness library
Leanne Pedante, one of Supernatural’s founding coaches and its current Head of Fitness, said the company is focused on restoring the content and features that helped build its community. The platform has accumulated more than 3,000 workouts over the years, giving the independent company a substantial library to offer subscribers.
“We have a library of over 3,000 workouts that we’ve built over the years — all of that comes back,” Pedante said in an interview on the Engadget Podcast. “The same coaches, the same beautiful environments. We’re working on our music negotiations right now. We’ll also start releasing new content, which hasn’t been happening for quite a while now.”
The return of the existing library is likely to be important to longtime subscribers who were concerned the service could disappear. Supernatural’s coaches, virtual environments and workout catalogue have been central to the experience, while new content had been limited during the period of uncertainty surrounding the platform.
Pedante said conversations with members suggested that many users remained supportive of the company’s plans, even with the higher subscription cost. However, reactions within the wider Supernatural community have been mixed, with some members expressing concerns about the price increase and the changes surrounding the relaunch.
Smaller team aims to move faster
The new independent structure could allow Supernatural to operate with fewer layers of management than it had when it was part of Meta. Pedante said the smaller team could respond more quickly to members’ feedback and make changes without the bureaucracy associated with a larger organisation.
“The other thing that’s been really cool is that because we’re a small team now… essentially we’re a flat organisation,” she said. “There’s no bureaucracy. We can move really fast. And so immediately we were able to respond to people talking about there being a [paywall] barrier by creating a Supernatural scholarship program.”
The company says in its frequently asked questions that a limited number of scholarships will be made available each quarter to members experiencing financial difficulties. Applications will be reviewed by Supernatural’s team to “grant support where it’s needed most.” Some members have also proposed paying for subscriptions for other users who cannot afford them.
Despite the increase in subscription costs, Supernatural remains cheaper than many traditional fitness clubs and offers the convenience of exercising at home. Users do not need to travel to a gym or share equipment and changing facilities with other people. However, the VR platform cannot provide the broad range of equipment available at a conventional fitness centre, particularly for more demanding strength and cardio workouts.
The cost of accessing Supernatural also includes the VR hardware required to use it. The Meta Quest 3S costs US$350, while the Meta Quest 3 costs US$600, adding a significant upfront expense for people who do not already own a compatible headset.
Community could take Supernatural beyond VR headsets
Community has become another important part of Supernatural’s appeal. Pedante recently attended meetups in Seattle and Denver, where she met hundreds of subscribers. The gatherings highlighted how relationships formed through the fitness platform have extended beyond virtual workouts.
Among the members she met was a couple who had met through Supernatural and later married after working out together on the platform. Stories such as this illustrate the social element that has developed around the service, allowing the company to build on more than its collection of VR workouts.
Supernatural was founded by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin through their VR studio Within, making virtual reality central to the platform’s identity. However, the company is now considering ways to make its fitness programmes available beyond traditional VR headsets.
One possibility is technology such as the Nex Playground, which uses a camera to track movement and displays digital objects on a television. The system is designed to support games and activities without requiring controllers or a headset, offering a potential route for Supernatural to reach people interested in interactive fitness who do not want to use VR hardware.
“I can definitely say that we’re actively exploring where else to meet our members outside of headsets,” Pedante said. “I think in fitness for sure, one of the main things that allows a person to create consistency and create a habit is if you build trust and a relationship with your fitness community. And so once you’ve established that trust, which Supernatural members have established over the past six years with us and with each other, then you want to be with those people to further your experience, right? So whether that’s running, or a couch to 5K type of thing [training programs outside of headsets for members], people are absolutely interested in that, and we’re exploring all of that.”
Supernatural’s relaunch therefore appears to be about more than restoring an existing VR fitness service. The independent company is also looking at how its established community, coaches and workout programmes could support a broader fitness experience as it moves beyond its previous relationship with Meta.
Meta’s decision to reduce Supernatural’s staff and pause new content had cast doubt on the platform’s future, but the planned relaunch gives it another chance to develop independently. The challenge will be balancing higher subscription costs and VR hardware expenses against the loyalty of its existing community while attracting new users.
