Tencia Benavidez, a Supernatural user who lives in New Mexico, started VR exercises during the Covid violence. He has been a regular user in the five years since then, calling the ability to exercise in VR ideal, if only he lives in a rural area where it is difficult to go to the gym or exercise outside during the brutal winter. He stuck with Supernatural because of the community and the eagerness of the Supernatural coaches.
“It seems like real people weren’t talking to you,” Benavidez said. “There is something special about those coaches.”
Meta purchased Supernatural in 2022, folding it into its then-heavily invested metaverse efforts. The acquisition was not a smooth process, as a long legal battle began in which the US Federal Trade Commission tried to block Meta from buying the service due to concerns that Meta was “trying to buy its way to the top” of the VR market. The Meta finally won. At the time, some Supernatural users were cautiously optimistic, hoping that Zuckerbucks’ largesse could keep its fitness juggernaut afloat.
“Meta fought with the government to buy this thing,” said Benavidez. “All that to shut them up? What good is it?”
I reached out to Meta and Supernatural, and they did not respond to my requests for comment.
Rising from Ashes and Dust
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Meta has placed more than 1,000 people across its VR and metaverse efforts. The move comes after years of the company bleeding billions of dollars from its metaverse products. In addition to laying off most of the staff at Supernatural, Meta shut down the three in-house VR studios that made the games. Resident Evil 4 again Deadpool VR.
“If it was something mainstream, I think they would charge more,” Goff Johnson said of Supernatural. “I think people would pay for it. This seems unnecessary.”
There is a division in the community about who will stay and continue to pay the registration fee and who will leave. Supernatural has more than 3,000 courses available on the service, so while new content won’t be added, some feel there is plenty of content left in the library. Some users worry about how Supernatural will continue to license music from big-name bands.
“Supernatural is amazing, but I’m canceling it because of this,” Chip said. “The library is big, so there’s enough to keep you busy, but not at the same price.”
There are other VR workout experiences like FitXR or VR base Hit Sabercalled Supernatural which focuses on many design concepts. Still, they don’t toe the same line for most Supernatural faithful.
“I’m going to shut it down until the lights go out,” said Stefanie Wong, a Bay Area accountant who has used Supernatural since the pandemic’s aftermath and has organized and attended convention events. “It’s not an app. It’s the community, and it’s the coaches that we really care about.”
Welcome to the New Era
I tried Supernatural’s Together feature on Wednesday, the day after the layoff. This is where I met Chip and Alisa. When we stopped to catch our breath, we talked about the upcoming changes in the ministry. They had played past times hosted by Jane Fonda or playlists with a mix of music that would change constantly. This was a series of artists covering songs by Imagine Dragons in their entirety.
At the session, as we hit the blocks while being cheered on by the man in the shirt, recorded narration from Supernatural coach Dwana Olsen stepped in to cheer us on.
“Use these moments,” Olsen said as we punched. “Use this movement to remind yourself how much of a wonderful life you still have.”
In fact, it was really empowering. And bitter. We finished another round, sweaty and drenched. Chip, Alisa, and I were high like crazy and ready for another round.
“Good,” said Alisa. “It’s just beautiful, isn’t it?”
