Squid Games all set to hit VR

If you enjoy Squid Game but aren’t bold enough to play it in real life, you’ll soon have a VR option. Netflix has collaborated with Sandbox VR to create a game based on the Korean TV series, and beginning “late 2023,” you’ll be able to explore this terrible dystopia at any of the Sandbox VR arcades across the world. At the time of writing, the game creator has over 30 sites worldwide, with 26 of them in North America, which is a much-needed comeback after sitting dormant through the worst of the epidemic.

Players will be “transported to classic Squid Game locales, where they become contenders in a number of pulse-pounding tasks inspired by the Netflix series,” according to Sandbox VR, and will “compete against each other to be the last one standing” — presumably without anybody really dying. Players will be able to quickly view, share, and even download a personalised mixed-reality highlight reel, like with all Sandbox VR games.

The San Francisco-based VR startup did not reveal any other information about its Netflix partnership, but based on my recent experience with their newest zombie-shooter, Deadwood Valley (shown above), the future Squid Game release should not disappoint. All Sandpit VR games allow up to six players to freely move about each level while wearing wrist and ankle trackers for full-body motion capture and a bHaptic TactSuit to feel bullets or zombie scratches. Gamers also grip a prop weapon that is the same size as its virtual equivalent, making these VR games more more realistic.

I’m looking forward to seeing Red Light, Green Light, Hopscotch, and Squid in the Squid Game VR experience, but I’m not sure about licking a prop to solve the dalgona sweets puzzles.