'Squid Game' is coming to VR later this year

If you like Squid Game but not enough to brave the real-life version, you'll soon have a VR option. Netflix has partnered with Sandbox VR to produce a game based on the Korean TV series, and from "late 2023," you'll be able to enter this gruesome dystopia at any of the Sandbox VR arcades around the world. The game developer has over 30 locations globally - 26 of which are in North America - at the time of writing, which is a much needed rebound after lying dormant throughout the worst part of the pandemic.

According to Sandbox VR, its upcoming experience will have players "transported to iconic Squid Game locations, where they become contestants in a variety of pulse-pounding challenges inspired by the Netflix series." You'll "compete against each other to be the last one standing" - presumably without anyone actually dying. As with all Sandbox VR games, players will be able to immediately rewatch, share and even download a personalized mixed-reality highlight reel.

The San Francisco-based VR company didn't share further details on its Netflix collaboration, but judging by my recent experience with its latest zombie-shooter, Deadwood Valley (pictured above), the upcoming Squid Game title shouldn't disappoint. All Sandbox VR games allow up to six players to roam around freely in each room, while wearing wrist and ankle trackers for full-body motion capture, as well as a bHaptic TactSuit to feel gunshots or zombie scratches. Players also hold a prop weapon that matches the size of its virtual counterpart, thus making these VR games more immersive than they already are.

I'm anticipating the likes of Red Light, Green Light, hopscotch and Squid making their way into the Squid Game VR experience, but I'm less keen on the idea of licking a prop to solve the dalgona candy puzzles.