Netflix has tapped developer Tender Claws to help it create Stranger Things VR, a new VR title that’ll land on “major VR platforms” towards the end of 2023.
The company announced the project during Stranger Things Day 2022, and said the game will allow players to slip into the primordial skin of the series’ pulsating monologuer-in-chief, Vecna.
“Play as Vecna in this new Stranger Things adventure in VR. Become an explorer of unknown realities as you form the hive mind and tame the void. Invade minds and conjure nightmares in your quest to enact revenge on Eleven and Hawkins,” reads a short announcement.
“Stranger Things VR is a psychological horror/action game developed by Tender Claws and coming to major VR platforms in Winter 2023.”
Netflix has significantly expanded its video game business this year, bringing a deluge of titles to its Netflix Games platform – which is included with all forms of Netflix, including the company’s new ad-supported tier – and sealing significant acquisitions in a bid to expand its slate of first-party releases.
The Tender Claws partnership is notable given the studios’ pedigree creating acclaimed VR projects such as Virtual Virtual Reality, Tendar, and Tempest – the latter of which is a immersive theatre experience that blurred the line between the physical and virtual world by combining VR tech with live performance.
This isn’t the first time Netflix has used Stranger Things to explore the potential of VR. Back in 2017, the streaming company linked up with Sony to create a free PS VR morsel called Stranger Things: The VR Experience, although that was a short interactive experience as opposed to a full-fledged game.