Best VR Boxing Games

For those that favor an authentic boxing experience, where form and style matter, The Thrill of the Fight is one of the best VR boxing games currently available. It may not be the most flashy game visually, nor will it win awards for presentation, but it makes up for this in droves for the deep simulation aspects it offers budding fighters.

The game offers a selection of challenging fighters to go up against, each with unique fighting styles and a range of techniques, forcing you to adapt, target weak spots, and learn as you go along. There’s also a rich training mode, including a dummy, speed bag, and so on, to fine-tune your skills and perfect your timing.

It’s no understatement saying that The Thrill of the Fight provides a serious workout that creeps remarkably close to the real thing. There’s no stamina gauge or fabricated in-game limitations; the success of each fight depends on what your body can do.

The Thrill of the Fight’s focus on delivering a realistic boxing experience means you’ll need a reasonably sizable room-scale play area as standard to play. The game very much expects the player to duck, weave, evade punches, and skip around as you would in the real world. As developer Sealost Interactive notes, make sure you’ve properly tuned your Steam VR Chaperone or Oculus Guardian boundaries before jumping into the virtual ring. Also, clear out any wandering pets or expensive objects to err on the side of caution.

The Thrill of the Fight is currently available to purchase on Steam and the Oculus Store, which grants compatibility with a good selection of headsets, including Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

There’s no denying that the highest stakes boxing matches are a spectacle, oozing with theatricality and pomp. Creed: Rise to Glory taps into this aspect of boxing to deliver a polished, cinematic experience that veers far more towards fast, fun, arcade-style gameplay than authentic alternatives like The Thrill of the Fight.

As the name implies, Creed: Rise to Glory dips into the Rocky franchise to bring a compelling career mode that has the player carry Adonis Creed from a lowly fist thrower to a dominating force in the highest echelons of boxing. You’ll meet iconic characters like Rocky Balboa, Ivan, and Viktor Drago along the way, with frequent visits to a gym to hone your skills. Additionally, Creed: Rise to Glory has an online PvP mode to test your skills against players worldwide.

The fights themselves aren’t so much about timing and skill but rather about unleashing a maelstrom of wild punches to secure a knockout, all while keeping an eye on your stamina bar. Fights tend to be quick and to the point, with a high production value seen in cutscenes and slow-motion moves that add a bit of welcome flair to the experience. Movement isn’t linked to your body and feet but rather to moving the controller, making for a less physically taxing but decent workout.

Creed: Rise to Glory is available on both Steam and the Oculus Store. You can fire it up using a Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, PlayStation VR, or Windows Mixed Reality headset.

Turning away from straight VR boxing games, we have BOXVR. Despite the name, BOXVR is far more a fitness game than a boxing one. It employs Beat Saber music-based timing mechanics, except with a lot of jabbing and punching instead of slicing and slashing.

Each session is set to one of over 150 different songs from various genres, from thumping dance tracks to ska, with the player tasked with producing all manner of jabs, weaves, and uppercuts in time with the beat presented as colorful orbs.

BOXVR proposes over 20 hours of choreographed workouts designed to burn fat, up your stamina, and overall improve cardio, all in a light, fun setting. The game even tracks your progress to let you know the impact of each session, all while allowing you to set goals. There are also sessions for all skill levels, rising in intensity as you progress, making it suitable for all fitness levels from total beginners to seasoned gym-goers.

Naturally, the focus on fitness means many of the more authentic aspects of boxing, chiefly taking on another fighter, are thrown out of the window. Therefore, BOXVR is primarily aimed at those that want a fun, alternative way to workout from home and not those looking for an authentic and realistic boxing experience that mimics stepping into the ring.

You can play BOXVR on SteamVR, the Oculus Store, and PlayStation VR. Headset compatibility isn’t half bad with support for Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, and PSVR headsets.

The Fastest Fist falls somewhere between a pure boxing sim like The Thrill of the Fight and a boxing-inspired fitness game like BOXVR. At its core, The Fastest Fist is best described as a high-intensity shadowboxing sim designed to deliver a heart-pumping workout.

Simplicity and repetition is the name of the game here as you jump into a training session with a trainer that bears an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Lee. He’ll hold up bags and throw all manner of hooks, jabs, and uppercuts your way that you’ll need to dodge and block, then respond in kind with a few punches of your own. That’s pretty much it. It’s a simple gameplay loop, but it works up quite the sweat and is easy to get into. After a 30 minute session with The Fastest Fist, you’ll be gasping for air.

The repetitive formula won’t suit those that want a varied, challenging boxing experience, and the game has no alternative modes or online elements to ward off boredom. Additionally, headset compatibility is limited. The Fastest Fist is exclusively available on Steam and only compatible with the Valve Index and HTC Vive headsets. It’s cheap, though, going for no more than $8-$10.