‘Stranger Things’ Game From ‘Oxenfree’ Devs Was Cancelled Alongside Telltale’s Closure

When Telltale Games suddenly closed up shop last year, it not only brought a few projects to a grinding halt, but it also left several people without a job. Fans have been privy to the fact that the studio was working on Stranger Things game that was based on the hit Netflix series. That said, according to a recent report from The Verge, this was not the only Stranger Things title that was in the works under the Telltale umbrella, as Oxenfree developers Night School Studio were also working on a game based on the Netflix show, which was meant to be published by Telltale.

Night School was certainly a prime candidate for a Stranger Things game, as Oxenfree has a similar vibe, and they already have experience in developing a game based on a TV show with their Mr. Robot mobile title. This led Telltale to approach the studio to work on such a project. In fact, Pete Hawley, who was the Telltale CEO at the time, approached many studios, as he “thought that the overall Telltale formula had begun to become a little bit stagnant, and he thought that there could be some low-risk ways to experiment with new things,” said The Verge’s source.

By January 2018, Night School was working on their Stranger Things game, which was dubbed “Kids Next Door” at the time. Unfortunately, communication between the studios wasn’t helping matters. According to a Telltale source, “It felt like two games were being developed in parallel, but they weren’t really speaking to each other in a way they should have.” A different source add that it was “the epitome of the telephone game.”

However, when Telltale shut down suddenly, the project was no more. Considering how small Night School Studio is (13 employees), if they weren’t already working on the upcoming Afterparty, they also would have likely experienced layoffs. Thankfully, they’ve been able to focus on the inbound title, which is set to arrive at some point this year.

What do you think about this? Would you have loved to see a Stranger Things game from the Oxenfree devs? Sound off in the comment section below, or feel free to hit me up over on Twitter @anarkE7!

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