The new Beat Saber multiplayer mode lets you Slice blocks with your friends

What you need to know

• The latest Beat Saber update includes the long-awaited multiplayer mode with support for up to 5 players.
• The update is available now for Steam and Oculus platforms, and is coming soon to PlayStation VR.
• Players can customize their avatars in a new arena-like environment built specifically for multiplayer.
• Multiplayer is not cross-platform at this time.

It's been what feels like forever, but Beat Saber multiplayer has finally arrived via update v1.12.1. for both Steam and Oculus platforms. PlayStation VR players will have to wait a bit longer for the update to go live because of the differences in Sony's certification program, but the same multiplayer update is coming to PSVR in the very near future. In the mean time, Steam and Oculus players can jump into their headset of choice, be it a brand-new Oculus Quest 2 or something else, and challenge each other to a high-score duel of block slicing to the beat.

This might be a great time to get some Beat Saber grips for your controllers to give you an added advantage over your friends! The new multiplayer mode can be played via quick-play or a private server, so you can easily choose between friends and random gamers online. A new arena-like environment has been made specifically for the new multiplayer mode, which we first saw unveiled at Facebook Connect alongside a ton of other games. Right now, multiplayer is restricted to each respective platform, so Steam players can only play with Steam players, Oculus players against Oculus players, and so on and so forth.

All available original OSTs and official DLCs can be played in multiplayer, and Beat Games confirms that any upcoming official songs and DLCs will be supported, as well. A nice little nugget of wisdom to note there is that we'll be getting more official song packs and DLCs in the near future. Aside from that, players will find a brand new avatar to customize, and a snazzy new arena to play multiplayer in. Beat Games has also overhauled the menu with a new visual design, as well as tweaked several lighting effects throughout the game.

Oddly enough, the player statistic pane has been temporarily removed, so if you don't see that don't worry, it'll be back soon. There's currently no voice chat in multiplayer, as Beat Games cites that each VR platform already has voice chat and it would be redundant. More than likely, you wouldn't want people screaming over your songs while trying to play, anyway, so that's probably a good move on their part. So what are you waiting for? Strap your VR headset on and get to slicing!