Netflix announced at the recent E3 event during its panel the launch of three games.
Come 4 July, Stranger Things fans everywhere will not only be able to watch the new season, but also play “Stranger Things 3: The Game” on their favourite consoles.
Described as a retro art style, adventure game with modern gameplay mechanics, players can team up with a friend in local co-op to explore and solve puzzles in the world of Hawkins, and battle the Mind Flayer as one of 12 characters from the show.
The game will be available on the Nintendo Switch, XBOX One, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac, Android, and iOS platforms.
Fans can expect another Stranger Things mobile game that will be released in 2020.
Players can explore The Upside Down realm in real life as they make their daily commute through this RPG/puzzle game that uses GPS to deliver game experiences related to the player’s actual location, and has a co-op mode as well.
Finally, “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics” will launch globally sometime in 2019 on the Nintendo Switch, XBOX One, PlayStation 4, PC and Mac platforms.
Switch, XBOX One, PlayStation 4, PC and Mac platforms.
It is based off Netflix Originals’ upcoming series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which is set to premiere on 30 August.
This turn-based tactics game will challenge fans to recruit an army of characters and creatures from across the vast fantasy world of Thra and strategically command them in more than 80 campaign battles.
During their panel, titled “Bringing Your Favorite Shows to Life: Developing Netflix Originals into Video Games”, Netflix also plans to extend characters and worlds from their original series and films into existing games from partners like Roblox, Ubisoft, Next Games, and Behaviour Interactive.
Some fans may have already noticed the Scoops Ahoy easter egg in the latest update for popular battle royale game, Fortnite.
On the Stranger Things 3: The Game, Dave Pottinger, CEO of BonusXP, said during the panel, “We’re giving people the content of the show, but we’re also giving them just as much, if not more content in the game beyond the show.”
“We don’t want people to play the game and feel like there isn’t anything new to discover. This is a labour of love, something for the fans to come in and really experience what the world of Hawkins is like.”
Dustin is revealed to have computer-hacking skills and his signature hairspray attack, and players can craft a Trinket to “buff up the party”, Pottinger shared.
Pottinger also talked about the abilities of two characters, Max and Eleven, and we learned that each Trinket is unique to each playable character.
Chris Lee, Netflix’s Director of Interactive Games, later on shared that he was surprised to find out that Millie Bobby Brown had actually played and enjoyed the original Stranger Things: The Game.
Writer of Strangers Things, Paul Dichter pointed out that the game can also be seen as “an opportunity to fill in some backstory for characters, to learn more about where they came from”.
The video streaming company clearly knows who their audiences are as they make their foray into the video games industry together with a team of individuals who are gamers themselves.
Following its efforts to create more interactive content, as with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, we think that fans of shows can expect to enjoy even more exciting and immersive content beyond the shows in coming years.
Move over, Netflix and chill.
It’s now Netflix and gaming.
Featured Image Credit: Screengrab of video uploaded by Gameslice on YouTube