An interactive game based on the Netflix series Stranger Things was in development by Telltale Games for PC and consoles.[1] While the game was slated for a 2019 release,[2] in September 2018, it was announced the game had been canceled.[3] Following its cancellation, Netflix released an official statement stating it was exploring other options to bring Stranger Things in an interactive medium.[4]
Development[]
The idea for the game was first pitched in mid-2016, shortly after the premiere of the first season. However, the former executives of the company repeatedly rejected the pitch, regarding it to be a terrible idea from the belief that the series was "just a bunch of kids on bikes."
However, when leadership of the company changed in 2017, the long-awaited partnership with Netflix was finally realized, allowing development of the game to begin. The game was reportedly going to be the first of Telltale's games to be released on the Unity engine.[5]A mobile game called Kids Next Door was also being concurrently developed by Night School Studios in co-operation with Telltale and was intended to serve as a companion piece to the main game.[6]
Following a large wave of layoffs within Telltale, and the studio’s subsequent closure, the game was canceled in September 2018.[3] Following its cancellation, Netflix released an official statement stating it was exploring other options to bring Stranger Things in an interactive medium.
On September 23, 2018, footage of the canceled game surfaced online. The footage revealed Will Byers as the game's main playable character. The footage shows Will opening a drawer to find batteries, while another is a cutscene, in which he receives a TRS-80 for his birthday from Joyce. Other clips shift to a first-person perspective, as the player encounters and hides from the Demogorgon in the Upside Down. Hints scattered throughout the footage indicate the game was most likely set before the events of the second season.
Musicians Antimo & Welles, who produced soundtracks for various other Telltale games, also created music for the Stranger Things game. In October 2020, Antimo & Welles uploaded six of the unused tracks to their YouTube channel.[7]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ "Telltale Is Working on a Stranger Things Game With Netflix" The Wrap. June 13, 2018.
- ↑ Eric Stirpe, a writer for the game, confirmed a 2019 release in a tumblr post.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Telltale Games’ Stranger Things series canceled amid wave of layoffs" ARS. September 21, 2018.
- ↑ "Netflix Updates Future of 'Stranger Things' and 'Minecraft: Story Mode' Following Telltale Closure" Comicbook. September 21, 2018.
- ↑ "Netflix, Telltale and ‘Stranger Things’: Why the Deal Took Two Years to Happen (EXCLUSIVE)" Variety. June 22, 2018.
- ↑ "A Secret Stranger Things Game Died Before It Was Even Announced" The Verge. April 23, 2019.
- ↑ "Music from Telltale’s STRANGER THINGS Game" October 27, 2020.