Stranger Things VR turns things upside down by letting you play as Vecna

About a year ago, Netflix launched its mobile gaming app. Since then, the streaming service has acquired a handful of game studios and started working on some larger projects outside of mobile. Now we’ve seen one of them, and it’s a pretty obvious move involving one of Netflix’s biggest hits: Stranger Things VR.

The official announcement trailer shows what we can expect from the experience. The main catch is that you play as Vecna, the dream-busting villain from the show’s fourth season. The trailer, although brief, shows how players can use Vecna’s psychic abilities to weave dreams and battle other monsters in Upside Down. “Become an explorer of unknown realities as you shape the hive mind and tame the void,” reads the trailer description. “Enter minds and conjure up nightmares to take revenge on Eleven and Hawkins.” The footage features the player meeting Eleven, as well as the Demogorgon that viewers first met in the series’ debut season .

Stranger Things VR is a psychological horror/action game, which is very fitting in terms of setting and gameplay concept. It’s being developed by Tender Claws, a studio with half a dozen projects under its belt. The game is coming to the major VR platforms “in the winter of 2023,” and while that’s a bit vague, we imagine the upcoming PlayStation VR 2 would be a good spot for it.

As previously mentioned, Netflix has been on the move acquiring studios ever since it announced its intention to move into gaming. One of the first major acquisitions was Night School Studio, the team behind Oxenfree and Afterparty. Just this March, it won mobile studios Next Games and Boss Fight Entertainment. The former has developed mobile adaptations of licensed properties such as the Walking Dead and stranger thingswhile the latter created the original title Dungeon Boss.