Netflix announces Stranger Things game that turns your life into the Upside Down

Universe of TV show will be entirely re-imagined for new game, developers say as they announce release date

(Netflix)

The horrifying, mysterious world of Stranger Things' Upside Down is coming to your neighbourhood.

Netflix has announced a tie-up with Finnish developer Next Games to create a game based on the hit Netflix show that will be released in 2020.

The game will turn people's real-life location into a part of the game, developers said. It will use the phone's location in a similar way to Pokemon Go, integrating with Google Maps to find where people are and turn it into part of the game.

"Players can explore The Upside Down hidden around them in their daily travels and work with fellow fans to fight back its emerging evils," said developers Next Games, which has made similar titles for the Walking Dead.

The game is described as a "location-based puzzle RPG game". It will be released next year on iOS and Android, and will be free-to-play.

Unusually, the style of the Stranger Things game will completely rework the universe from the TV show. It will be reimagined as an "80s Saturday morning cartoon", developers said, though it will keep the same characters and themes as in the series.

“We are huge fans of Stranger Things and thrilled to work together with Netflix to bring our shared vision of Stranger Things into life in a mobile game format," said Teemu Huuhtanen, CEO of Next Games, in a statement.

"Our core focus will be to deliver on Stranger Things’ rich and intense themes like friendship and supernatural adventure, and translate these into snack-sized entertainment on your mobile device. Combined with Netflix’s second-to none ability to reach audiences across the globe, we will deploy all of our accumulated creative and technological expertise to create a game for the fans of the series all around the world.”

The new title will be separate from Stranger Things 3: The Game, which will mark the first time a tie-in from the series will be released for consoles. Players will do battle against villains from the TV show, being able to control all of the series' main characters.

That game will be released on 4 July, alongside the TV series, and will be available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.