Netflix Says Stranger Things Game Isn't Dead Yet

With the news coming out that Telltale Games is soon to be no more, immediately reports began going out how the staff that was supposed to be working on games like The Walking Dead: The Final Season and The Wolf Among Us: Season 2, were all let go. What's left is just a skeleton crew to keep things going long enough to wind down operations. One of the big projects Telltale was supposed to be working on was Stranger Things, a narrative adventure based on the popular sci-fi show on Netflix. With the news about the closure most assumed that the game based on Stranger Things was dead in the water, but Netflix says that the game isn't dead yet.

According to Polygon, Netflix is still getting Minecraft: Story Mode, and the company is moving forward with the game based on Stranger Things by evaluating other options. In a statement sent to Polygon, Netflix explained...

In other words, it sounds like Netflix is looking for another development studio to pick up where Telltale may have left off with the project... assuming any work was done on the game at all.

The collaboration between the streaming company and interactive storytellers began back in June, when it was announced that Netflix and Telltale had joined forces. It's unlikely that anything more than a basic design structure was in place, which might make it easier for Netflix to shop around the project to another studio following Telltale's closure.

It's a real shame, though, because Netflix and Telltale Games were an absolute perfect fit for one another. Even though Telltale's graphics engine had become dated, it's nothing that couldn't have been remedied by teaming with another middleware company and making use of some higher-end tech to really help make a project like Stranger Things pop.

However, with Telltale closing up shop this means that a handful of other developers with the narrative chops will likely have to step up to the plate. Off the top of my head I can imagine Netflix looking to Dontnod Entertainment to bring the game to life. Dontnod is famous for the Life is Strange series, and the company recently had another narrative-heavy action-RPG on their hands in the form of Vampyr.

Dontnod also isn't afraid to experiment with drastically different visual tones and aesthetics. For instance Remember Me looks nothing like the company's upcoming Twin Peaks-inspired psychological thriller, Twin Mirror.

On the short list of other potential studios that could pick up the mantle is Big Bad Wolf of The Council fame. There are also a number of studios under THQ Nordic or Focus Home Interactive's labels that would probably be more than willing to take a crack at Stranger Things.

For now, it appears as if gamers can rest easy knowing that the project isn't dead yet and Netflix still has plans to bring the game to life.