The Thrill Of The Fight 2 Will Have Multiplayer and Improved Realism

We’ve talked a lot here about the fantastic VR Boxing Game Thrill Of The Fight, and if you’re as big of a fan of this game as we are then you’ll be excited to hear that a sequel is coming.

Unfortunately one of the biggest things that has been missing in the first iteration of this fantastic VR fighting game is a lack of a Multiplayer mode. That’s why it is so fantastic to know that Thrill Of The Fight 2 will have Multiplayer.

This and a whole suite of other improvements have been announced by the new developers of Thrill Of The Fight 2, Halfbrick, who will be working with the original creator of Thrill Of The Fight, Ian Fitz, on the sequel.

So let’s talk about what we currently know about Thrill Of the Fight 2 and the fantastic new features that are coming to this VR game.

Thrill Of The Fight 2 - Multiplayer And What We Know So Far

So, as far as we know, what’s the vision for Thrill Of the Fight 2?

In their announcement about the new game Halfbrick hasn’t given many concrete details, but what they have said sounds very good for long time fans of the original Thrill Of The Fight.

A lot of their wording seems meant to placate longtime fans and assure us that Thrill Of The Fight 2 is not only made in close concert with the creator of the original game, Ian Fitz, but will also continue the spirit of that original game.

Halfbrick state their intentions here to continue the focus on boxing simulation and realism that the first game had, while also including what they’ve heard “players want most” a Multiplayer mode.

Realistic boxing is what makes Thrill Of The Fight such a great game, and is the focus of the sequel Thrill Of The Fight 2

While unfortunately details on what this Multiplayer mode might look like are scarce so far, it is clear that it is a big focus of the developers over at Halfbrick.

Thrill Of The Fight is an old game that is so much fun and such a great workout that it continues to be one of the best games on the Oculus Quest 3 and VR in general.

So an update is definitely sorely needed. Being able to box another person would make Thrill Of The Fight 2 hands down the best VR Boxing game on the market, given that the feeling and use of actual boxing skill of the game isn’t altered.

From what we’ve heard we can at least definitely say that Halfbrick hasn’t announced any intentions to turn Thrill Of The Fight into a more arcadey experience like those in Creed: Rise To Glory or Knockout League.

Making Ugly Joe even uglier, a hallmark of the Thrill Of The Fight experience

Though there is potential for concern in how Singleplayer might look in this new game, as there hasn’t been any word on new fighters, new difficulty modes, or possibly even a more campaign style fighting bracket to progress through.

While Thrill Of The Fight Multiplayer is a lot to get excited about, let’s hope that the Singleplayer experience also gets some love when Thrill Of The Fight 2 releases.

The addition of Multiplayer alone will bring a lot of challenges to this studio that is relatively untested in the VR market. Even a small amount of lag would make a boxing match a nightmare to play, and there’s also balancing, collision, and a ton of other factors that become much harder with the addition of Multiplayer to a fighting game.

So can we have faith in Halfbrick to deliver on these promises? Are they a studio that can make a fantastic Thrill Of The Fight 2?

Thrill Of The Fight 2 - Who’s Halfbrick?

Now let’s address something that might worry long time fans of Thrill Of the Fight. You might be skeptical of this studio and how they might handle the game, or whether they can handle it at all.

As you may know the original game was the passion project of a solo developer, Ian Fitz, and now we know that the sequel will be in the hands of a game studio that you’ve probably not heard of, Halfbrick.

You might be concerned that despite their promises Halfbrick might skew the original vision of Thrill Of The Fight or fail to deliver a good upgrade to the original, and that’s a legitimate worry to have.

There have been game sequels in the past that have changed hands to a new developer and ended up worse off for it.

The Halfbrick Studios Logo

Fortunately Halfbrick have announced officially that they wish not only to continue Ian’s original focus on realism, but to expand on it and make the game feel like an even more immersive boxing experience.

Should Halfbrick deliver on this promise in Thrill Of The Fight 2 then it’s also certainly good news for those that use Thrill Of The Fight as a workout game as well as a boxing simulator.

Of course you may also be wondering if Halfbrick has the expertise to deliver on this promise. While they certainly have more resources than one person alone, what have they done in the past?

Judging from their website they’ve released a lot of games, but most seem to be 2D flatscreen games. They’re clearly very prolific mobile game developers, but not so much in the Virtual Reality gaming space.

Though they do have some acclaim as the studio behind the infamous Fruit Ninja games, their only experience in Virtual Reality game development is Fruit Ninja VR 1 and 2.

So it’s not like this is a studio completely inexperienced in VR game development.

Halfbrick’s Fruit Ninja series are currently their only forays into VR game development

Fruit Ninja VR 1 and 2 are good VR games that definitely deliver on the promise of slicing fruits in VR, and the controls and physics of them run smoothly. As far as VR game development experience goes, it’s not bad for a small studio.

Speaking of small, how big is Halfbrick? According to Google Studio’s case study on the company: “Halfbrick Studios employs about 35 people at its headquarters in Brisbane, Australia, plus another 11 in Spain and a small team in Bulgaria, while its licensing and entertainment business operates out of the United States.”

Pretty big as far as VR game studios go, though their resources will likely not all be on Thrill Of The Fight 2. Still, this is very hopeful news, and it seems that Thrill Of The Fight 2 will definitely have the expertise and manpower to be all that it can be.

Either way it’s good to see more game studios turn their attention towards Virtual Reality games.

Well that’s all we’ve got so far about Thrill Of The Fight 2 and the promised Thrill Of The Fight Multiplayer in this sequel. If you’ve got thoughts or hopes for the future of this fantastic VR boxing game feel free to leave a comment. Hopefully we’ll be able to get our hands on it soon.