Getting engrossed in the world of your favourite films and television shows has never been easier – and that’s not because of their availability or the quality of their writing. Stakeholders in both the small and big screen are increasingly turning to virtual reality (VR) as a means to expand their fictional worlds or help the audience gain a better understanding of the real one.
Most recently American broadcaster AMC Network Entertainment LLC (not to be confused with similarly named AMC Cinemas which VRFocus has reported on previously) revealed a new free app for, iOS, Android, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream to enable fans to get into the thick of the action or the drama in a number of the network’s hit shows including horror series The Terror, martial arts focused television series Into The Badlands and its worldwide hit, the zombie infested world of The Walking Dead.
It was the latter that received the first content update on the app, made prior to the premiere of The Walking Dead‘s Season 8 opener at the beginning of the week. AMC also released a 360-degree video on YouTube last week, although only available to users based in America, which has the watcher very much surrounded by the Walkers. American readers can see it below.
For readers elsewhere, the show’s official Twitter account did post an non-360 video of the teaser, which features you, a survivor, trapped in a car.
Fully immerse yourself in the world of #TWD with @AMC_TV’s new VR app for iOS, Android, Gear VR, and Daydream: https://t.co/8OCf2nbk70 pic.twitter.com/VvzmnhztlL
— The Walking Dead AMC (@WalkingDead_AMC) October 19, 2017
Speaking on the app, Mac McKean (AMC and Sundance TV’s Executive Vice President of Innovation and Product Development) said “With the launch of AMC VR, we are pleased to bring shows like The Walking Dead and Into the Badlands to life in an immersive and experiential way. Viewers want to enter the worlds they watch on AMC, and this app brings them there.”
It isn’t just VR that AMC are interested in, particularly with the Walking Dead franchise. Earlier this year VRFocus reported on the news that The Walking Dead was to receive an augmented reality (AR) videogame, similar to the Niantic Labs developed Pokémon GO. Developed by Next Games, The Walking Dead: Our World will, according to AMC, “enable players to fully immerse themselves into the action of the hit TV show by blending digital objects, such as characters and other game elements, with the players’ own environment.” The title received its first public demo at New York Comic Con earlier this month.
The Walking Dead is also active in other VR properties, such as Pinball FX 2 and projects currently in development by both Skydance Interactive and OVERKILL. It was however Starbreeze that developed the first VR experience for the franchise back in 2015.