Just Dance 2023

Lore & Background

2023 Edition includes a story mode-based playlist, a first in the series, titled 'Enter the Danceverses'. It tells the story of a woman named Sara, who is transported from the real world to a series of worlds collectively known as the 'Danceverses' by a man named Wanderlust. The two must stop the evil witch Night Swan from conquering the Danceverses. They recruit a team of expert dancers—Brezziana, Mihaly and Jack Rose (Night Swan's son)—and defeat Night Swan and her mind-controlled soldiers in a dance battle. The soldiers are freed, but Night Swan escapes. The group celebrates before Wanderlust sends Sara back to the real world. A follow-up to this story, titled 'Dance with the Swan', is part of 2024 Edition.

In Their Own Story

The screen flickers to life with a kaleidoscope of colors as the opening beat drops. You stand in the center of a digital void that instantly transforms into a sun-drenched beach party. A group of animated dancers bounces in perfect unison, their movements sharp and inviting. The camera zooms out, revealing a crowd of glowing silhouettes cheering from the sidelines. As the chorus hits, you raise your controller, feeling the rhythm pulse through your hands. There is no script to follow, only the immediate joy of matching the beat, turning a living room into a world stage for one perfect minute.

Reader's Guide

As with previous installments, players must mimic the on-screen coach’s choreography to a chosen song using the game's associated smartphone app (Nintendo Switch players have the option to use the console's Joy-Con controllers). 2023 Edition was not released for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, thereby dropping support for Kinect, PlayStation Camera, and PlayStation Move. The game features an updated and redesigned user interface, which emulates those seen on streaming services, all within a single Just Dance hub. It is the first Just Dance title to be developed using the Unity engine. A new online multiplayer feature allows up to six players to join a private group with cross-play support at launch, with the Xbox Series X/S version later being supported. Dancer cards received a major overhaul, with avatars now being pictures of the coaches instead of their heads, and emotes are added. Score feedback animations can now be customized and are toggleable. Victory celebrations are a new addition. Cross-progression is a new feature. The 'Beat Vibrations' function, previously exclusive to Nintendo Switch, has been added to Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 versions. On October 9, 'Workout Mode' and 'Challenge Mode' are added as part of the 2024 Edition Celebration Event. Just Dance+ is a new subscription service launched alongside 2023 Edition, offering subscription-based access to a streaming library of songs (150 songs at launch) from previous Just Dance games alongside new exclusive tracks.

Did You Know?

• Just Dance 2023 Edition is the fourteenth main installment of the series.
• The Stadia port of the game was cancelled due to the service's shutdown on January 18, 2023.
• It is the first Just Dance title to be developed using the Unity engine instead of Ubisoft's in-house UbiArt Framework.
• A union claimed that ten percent of Ubisoft's employees experienced burnouts and work stoppages every four weeks during production.
• Just Dance+ is a new subscription service, not a rebrand of Just Dance Unlimited.