Just days after releasing the much-hyped new FIFA game, Netflix has announced that the streamer’s next big video game will be in a completely different genre.
The upcoming game, titled “Unhinged,” is described as “an immersive horror game that feels like you’re ‘playing’ a show or movie.” Launching June 30, the transmedia project stars Zoe Kravitz, Sadie Sink and prolific voice actor Troy Baker, and was developed by Netflix-owned game studio Night School Studio (Oxenfree).
According to the game’s synopsis, “You wake up as Ava (voiced by Zoe Kravitz) during a violent storm that causes a power outage. Using your cell phone as a flashlight and your only lifeline, you must find your way to safety while calling and texting your best friend Claire (voiced by Sadie Sink) and creating Superben (voiced by Troy Baker)…And you’re not as alone as you think.”
Similar to the new release FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, Netflix aims to make the Unhinged game as easy for subscribers to access as they watch movies and TV shows on the app. No game controller is required, as users can scan a QR code to launch the app and use their phone as a means of progressing the game.
“From there, the integration is seamless. As you move your real-world phone in-game, Ava’s hands are tracked one-to-one, allowing you to shine a flashlight into the shadows,” Netflix said in a blog post announcing the game on Tuesday. “Audio takes immersion a step further. When Ava receives a call or text message, the actual phone rings and vibrates, the audio plays directly from the speakers, and the rest of the ambient sound effects blare from the TV.”
And for those who are new gamers but big horror fans who want to check out a title at launch, Night School has developed a “Story Mode” that allows you to survive the night no matter what choices you make.
“However, your ability to survive depends on the gameplay version you choose,” Netflix said. “If you want a pure narrative experience, Story Mode has no timer, so you can never die and just play through the story. But in Standard Mode, it’s all about reflexes. In high-stakes moments, the timer bar at the top of the screen shrinks and you have to quickly scan the room to find interactive objects. If you don’t find what you need before time runs out, you die. But instead of a complete game over, you just restart from the last checkpoint.”
“Unhinged” is the latest in Netflix’s ever-growing list of made-for-TV video games, with the company increasingly pushing out the format in addition to its lineup of dozens of mobile-only video games.
Watch the trailer for “Unhinged” in the video below.
