Tender Claws, the studio responsible for sinister AI comedy Virtual Virtual Reality (which we dubbed one of the best VR games), has announced that it’s working on a Stranger Things tie-in horror game. Based on the brief teaser trailer, Stranger Things VR will be about exploring the Upside Down, encountering the monstrous denizens of that dimension, and doing psychic battle with the series’ protagonists, all from the perspective of season 4’s big bad, Vecna.
Like all the monsters of Stranger Things, including the Demogorgon we see a glimpse of in the trailer, Vecna is named after a classic enemy from Dungeons & Dragons. In this case, the archetypal lich whose eye and hand became powerful artifacts after his death. (His head too, if you believe certain tales (opens in new tab).)
It’s been a good year for the Arch-Lich, who also figured in the first season of Critical Role cartoon The Legend of Vox machina, where he was coyly referred to as The Whispered One.
According to the Tender Claws website (opens in new tab), in Stranger Things VR players will “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.” Sure sounds like what Vecna was getting up to behind the scenes during season 4. It’ll be interesting to see if it can make being Vecna seem scary, though the Upside Down certainly looks as grotesque as ever.
Tender Claws describe Stranger Things VR as a “psychological horror/action game” and say it’ll be “coming to major VR platforms in Winter 2023.”
An earlier tie-in called Stranger Things 3: The Game was delisted from Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store last year, and a Telltale Stranger Things game was unfortunately canceled when the studio went under.
Stranger Things has previously crossed over with plenty of existing videogames too, appearing in Dead By Daylight, Fortnite, Far Cry 6, and even Minecraft.
