At E3 this week, Netflix announced that another Stranger Things game is in development, this one coming to iOS and Android mobile devices in 2020. Though details are still relatively vague, it sounds like the new game will be similar in design to Niantic's popular Pokemon GO game.
Developed by Finnish studio Next Games, the new Stranger Things mobile title is described as a "location-based RPG/puzzle game" in which players will be able to “Explore The Upside Down Hidden around you and work together with other players to overcome its emerging evils."
Next Games is no stranger to location-based augmented reality mobile games, having created The Walking Dead: Our World, a similarly designed game in which players fight off walkers based on their location in the real world. Next Games also devleoped The Walking Dead: No Man's Land, a mobile strategy game also based on the show.
“We are excited to be partnering with Next Games out of Helsinki, Finland, who have crafted this RPG/Puzzle hybrid game that has location-based technology, meaning that no matter where you are at in the world, you can fight and battle against The Upside Down, even in your own backyard,” said Chris Lee, Netflix’s director of interactive games. "They’ve developed this amazing 80s, retro, Saturday morning cartoon art style that we’ve absolutely fallen in love with."
In similarly exciting news, Netflix announced partnerships with a handful of game studios, including Ubisoft (Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed), Behaviour Interactive (Deathgarden: Bloodharvest), Roblox, and Epic Games (Fortnite). What these partnerships will amount to remains to be seen, but both Ubisoft and Epic Games are two of the most prominant game developers in the industry, with the latter creating the popular battle royale game Fortnite.
All of this is in addition to Netflix's upcoming Stranger Things 3: The Game, a 16-bit co-op beat ‘em based on the upcoming third season of the show that's set to release on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile devices on July 4.