Ripcoil

Ripcoil
Information
VR/AR	Virtual Reality
Developer	Sanzaru Games
Publisher	Oculus Studios
Platform	Oculus Rift
Device	Oculus Rift
Operating System	Windows
Type	Game
Genre	Sports, Arcade
Input Device	Oculus Touch
Game Mode	Multiplayer
Release Date	December 6, 2016
Price	US $9.99 (at launch)
App Store	Oculus Store

See also: VR Apps and VR Games

Ripcoil is a 2016 virtual reality disc-throwing game developed by Sanzaru Games and published by Oculus Studios for the Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch controllers. Sanzaru describes it as "a two-player networked VR disc battle game that puts opponents against each other in a futuristic space arena", in which players score by throwing discs at goals and bouncing shots off the arena walls. Press previews compared it to a first-person Pong and to the disc battles of the 1982 film Tron.

The game was one of the launch titles for Oculus Touch on 6 December 2016 and sold for US$9.99. Its movement system, in which the player slides from side to side by leaning, drew both praise and complaints. Oculus removed Ripcoil from sale in late 2020 and made it inaccessible to existing owners after 1 March 2021.

Reviewed 15 October 2026. Developer, publisher, Touch launch date and price, gameplay and locomotion descriptions, 2020-21 delisting and shutdown, Sanzaru closure and attributed review quotes checked against all 12 cited sources. About review dates.

Gameplay

Two players face each other in a futuristic arena, each standing on a floating platform. They score by throwing discs at the goals, and the moving platforms let them block and catch the opponent's throws. In Road to VR's description from a Gamescom 2016 demo, the goal behind each player is divided into five sections, the arena is an "intergalactic battle dome" with a cheering alien crowd, and the disc never leaves the play area.

Players grab the disc with a Touch controller and throw it with a flick of the wrist. According to UploadVR's E3 hands-on, the game corrects vertical aim, so players mainly control the throw's lateral direction; banking the disc off the arena walls is a central tactic, and holding a separate button charges a punch that sends the disc faster but makes it harder to aim. Road to VR described lobbed, whipped and banked throws, with aim assistance on both throwing and catching. UploadVR's review noted that throws can vary in spin, loft and angle, with overhand and underhand options.

Movement

The player's character moves only left and right. Tilting or leaning the head to one side slides the character in that direction, which Road to VR likened to the sliding platform in Pong. Road to VR's Scott Hayden said it took him about a minute to understand how to control the artificial locomotion, and that the fast sliding caused him no lasting discomfort, while noting that people differ in what triggers dizziness in VR. UploadVR's David Jagneaux found that reaching for the disc often moved his head and shifted his avatar, which he found frustrating, and suggested an "anchor" button to lock the player's position.

Modes

Ripcoil is built around one-on-one online matches. Apart from a limited training mode, all play is player-versus-player. A 2017 review on GameSpace listed target practice, general play and ranked modes, and built-in voice chat in matches. Avatars have fully animated bodies. UploadVR's review counted four arenas.

Development

Ripcoil was one of two games that Sanzaru Games prepared for the Oculus Touch launch; the other was VR Sports Challenge. It was announced in June 2016 and shown at E3 2016 as an Oculus Studios title exclusive to the Rift. At that point no release date had been announced, and both Road to VR and UploadVR expected it to launch alongside the Touch controllers. Road to VR compared the concept to CCP Games' Touch prototype Project Arena, and UploadVR named Project Arena and HoloBall among similar games. Sanzaru also demonstrated the game at Gamescom in August 2016.

Sanzaru later listed Ripcoil among its "4 titles on the Oculus platform", alongside VR Sports Challenge, Marvel Powers United VR and Asgard's Wrath. Meta closed Sanzaru Games in January 2026.

Release

Platform	Date	Notes
Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch	6 December 2016	Oculus Touch launch title; US$9.99
Oculus Rift	Late 2020	Removed from sale; no longer available for purchase or download
Oculus Rift	1 March 2021	Last day of access for existing owners; afterwards inaccessible, including single-player content

On 1 December 2016, Oculus included Ripcoil, credited to Sanzaru Games, in the list of 53 titles available on 6 December 2016 alongside Oculus Touch. In mid-2017 GameSpace noted that the game was free for buyers of any title during the Oculus Store summer sale.

Shutdown

By 2 December 2020 Ripcoil was no longer available for purchase or download. Oculus said that current owners could keep playing until 1 March 2021, after which it would make the game, including its single-player content, inaccessible, and suggested that owners uninstall it. Refunds were not automatic: buyers had to ask Oculus Customer Support, and Facebook later clarified that refunds applied only to purchases made within six months of the request. The same notice covered Sanzaru's Marvel Powers United VR; VR Sports Challenge was also removed from sale but stayed playable for existing owners. Road to VR wrote that the game had been "long criticized in user reviews as being essentially dead" and suggested that its "questionably uncomfortable" sliding locomotion may have put off many players.

Reception

In UploadVR's review, Joe Durbin called Ripcoil an "immensely fun and visually impressive VR experience" with quick matches and a "just one more game" pull, and found the locomotion "highly immersive and surprisingly satisfying" once learned. He criticized the lack of depth: he wrote that "there just aren't enough ways to construct those moments as the games wear on", that players adapt quickly, and that the game had "a lack of interesting features to support the online experience". UploadVR's weekly release roundup called it "one for multiplayer fans".

GameSpace's William Murphy gave the game 6 out of 10 after an hour of play. He listed intense matches, immersive controls and slick visuals as strengths, and a lack of long-term goals and the need for more modes as weaknesses.