There seem to be an ever-growing number of virtual reality (VR) movie tie-ins of late, and that’s no bad thing. The latest is a little quirkier than usual as it’s not based on a current film, rather the iconic Bill Murray flick Groundhog Day. Developed by Tequila Works (Invisible Hours), Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Sonwas initially teased earlier this year. Today, a launch date has been set for September.
Created in collaboration with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR) and MWM Immersive (MWMi), Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son puts you in the role of Phil Connors Jr., the son of Phil Connors from the original film. Trapped in a time loop like his father, as Connors Jr., you’ll need to solve puzzles and explore the world of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in a bid to free yourself from the time loop.
The videogame won’t just feature the main hook of the film, fans will also be able to visit all those beloved places and spot personalities from the film as well as new characters.
“At Sony Pictures Virtual Reality, we are focused on extending beloved IP into new mediums and reaching new audiences. ‘Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son’ is a perfect example of that,” said Jake Zim, Senior Vice President of Virtual Reality at Sony Pictures Entertainment in a statement. “By continuing the world of ‘Groundhog Day‘ in a VR game, we can introduce a new generation to the magic of the film and expand upon this universe. While the game introduces a new, modern story and protagonist, the themes explored by the original film remain true to this day.”
“VR allows players to explore unique worlds, discover stories and interact with characters in entirely new ways,” adds Raul Rubio, CEO and Creative Director of Tequila Works. “The iconic world and characters of ‘Groundhog Day’ are incredibly rich and memorable and we’ve used them as a jumping-off point for a contemporary experience and story.”
Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son will launch on 17th September 2019, for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive for £24.99 GBP / $29.99 USD / €29.99 EUR. The title is available to pre-order tomorrow, Tuesday 20th from the PlayStation Store, Oculus Store, Viveport, and Steam. For further updates on the experience, keep reading VRFocus.
Sony, MWM Immersive, and Tequila Works today announced that their upcoming VR adventure Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is set to launch next month, which includes support for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PSVR.
The game is being billed as a VR narrative adventure which is set in the world of the 1990s classic film Groundhog Day (1993). The VR adventure is slated to launch globally on September 17th for $30.
In Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, players dip back into the world of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as the son of Phil Connors, the aptly named Phil Connors Junior. The game, which traps you in a time loop à la the original film, is said to include puzzles and much of the iconic (and now cartoonish) environments from the game’s namesake.
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Image courtesy Sony, MWM Immersive, Tequila Works
Image courtesy Sony, MWM Immersive, Tequila Works
Image courtesy Sony, MWM Immersive, Tequila Works
Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son will be available for pre-order on PlayStation Store, Oculus Store, Viveport, and Steam starting tomorrow, August 20th. PlayStation Plus members will be able to pre-order the game at a discounted price of $27.
For a limited time, US and Canada-based pre-orders will also include a code to download a digital copy of Groundhog Day the film.
Groundhog Day VR will be available for demo at Gamescom this week. We have feet on the ground in Cologne, Germany, so strap in for the latest in AR/VR news to come from the world’s largest gaming event.
Having created the rather good murder mystery experience Invisible Hoursin 2017, virtual reality (VR) developer Tequila Works has recently announced its next project which is due for release later this year, a sequel to classic 90’s comedy Groundhog Day.
Called Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, the videogame doesn’t feature comedy legend Bill Murray as TV weatherman Phil Connors, instead, you’ll play as his son, Phil Connors Jr. who is naturally caught in his own time loop, repeating a single day over and over again.
The story twist where Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is concerned is that Phil Jr. trapped back home in Punxsutawney, the small town from the film, and one which Connors thought he had escaped. So he’s now reliving the worst day of his life until he learns the true value of friends and family.
The title isn’t just one story, however, with Tequila Works expanding on the intertwining narratives found in the Invisible Hours by giving the player greater control, allowing the story to diverge in multiple ways. “For this VR project, we wanted to go a step further by making the player an active, disruptive element in the story, giving them more narrative choices to have a key influence on the storyline,” explains Raul Rubio CEO and Creative Director, Tequila Works on PlayStation.Blog. “Not only will the player have a much stronger sense of physical interactivity, but a deeper emotional connection to the non-playable characters.
The studio enlisted the help of James Siciliano of Rick and Morty and Joshua Rubin of Telltale Games to craft the story around the Groundhog Day world, whilst retaining the films dark humour.
Published by Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR), produced by SPVR and MWM Immersive, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son will be released later this year for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Check out the first teaser trailer below, and for further updates as the launch nears keep reading VRFocus.
Groundhog Day (1993), the iconic ’90s film starring Bill Murray, is getting its very own full-length VR game soon—well, sort of. Dubbed Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, you’ll be able to jump back into the world of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, this time stepping into the shoes of Phil Connors Jr., the son of the man who lived the same day over and over until he learned the meaning of existence.
Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is being developed by Tequila Works, the developers behind The Invisible Hours (2017). The game is said to include a similar narrative mechanic to The Invisible Hours, which lets you live out different parts of the story and repeat them until you learn how to make it out of the time-loop.
The studio claims Groundhog Day VR will provide eight hours of puzzles and branching narrative gameplay.
Image courtesy Tequila Works
Published by Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR) and produced by SPVR and MWM Immersive, Groundhog Day VR is slated to land on the PlayStation Store later this year for PSVR. The studio makes mention of “other major VR platforms” as well, showing both the Oculus and Vive logos. It’s uncertain whether this means PSVR has timed exclusivity, or if it’s set for simultaneous release on all platforms.
Image courtesy Tequila Works
“Like we did in The Invisible Hours, we are working with talented facial and motion capture artists to create a unique, immersive experience,” explains Tequila Works creative director and CEO of Raul Rubio in a PS blogpost.
Unlike The Invisible Hours however, the player is supposed to be an active, “disruptive element” in the story, hopefully meaning there will be more opportunities for personal choices.
Rubio says the game contains a time loop mechanic with multiple branching narratives, and “the same dark humor of the original film, letting us play around with the inherent instinct of every VR player to mess with everything around them.”
Well, there’s a headline I never thought I’d write. A Groundhog Day sequel is in the works… for VR.
Yes, really.
Tequila Works, the studio behind 2017’s excellent The Invisible Hours, today announced Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son. It’s a full VR game headed to Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PSVR later this year. In it, you play as Phil Connors Jr., the son of Bill Murray’s character in the 1993 movie. In the film, the original Connors is forced to relive the same day over and over again until he basically learns to be a good person. It’s set on February 2nd, hence today’s announcement.
The first trailer for the game is above. It looks like Connors Jr. is going to find himself in the exact same situation as his Dad. That hopefully means plenty of deadpan humor. The game’s even set in the same town of Punxsutawney. As part of the marketing, there’s even a virtual Twitter account for Connors Jr..
Published by Sony Pictures and produced with the help of Immersive, Like Father Like Son promises over eight hours of puzzles to solve. There’s also a branching narrative, which we’d hope means you can choose how to live out your day.
Groundhog Day might not seem like the most obvious fit for a VR sequel. But the more we think about it, the more we’re falling in love with the idea. Plus, Tequila Works did great work with branching narratives in The Invisible Hours. Our hopes are surprisingly high for this one, then.
Videogame soundtracks are just starting to gain widespread respect as a musical genre in its own right, featuring in live orchestral concerts, and even getting airtime on radio stations such as Classic FM. Videogame soundtracks are also starting to see release in various formats, such as the upcoming release of the soundtrack to The Invisible Hours.
Created by independent developer Tequila Works, The Invisible Hoursis an innovative virtual reality (VR) murder mystery where the player takes a ‘fly on the wall’ view of proceedings after the body of fames inventor Nikolai Tesla is discovered dead in a mansion house. The player must listen in on conversations and discover the identity of the killer.
The soundtrack for the experience was composed by Cris Velasco, who previously worked on titles such as Resident Evil 7 biohazard, which is also VR-compatible. In VR it is often vital for the music and sound design to be as good as possible so to properly immerse the user in the environment.
We took our inspiration from stage theater and played with atmosphere and ambient sound,” explains Raúl Rubio, CEO and Creative Director of Tequila Works. “Like the original silent movies of early 20th Century, we added a soundtrack matching the action only in very specific moments for dramatic purpose. The result is an intimate, atmospheric symphony that talks directly to your soul. And composer Cris Velasco is the invisible hand behind the chill you feel when wandering Tesla’s domains spying the secret lives of all these strangers.”
The soundtrack for The Invisible Hours is being made available for digital download and online streaming through music publisher Sumthing Else Music Works. Further details on the release is available via the Sumthing Else website.
The Invisible Hours is available for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. Further details are available on the official website.
VRFocus will bring you further news on The Invisible Hours as it becomes available.
This week Tequila Works launched its virtual reality (VR) murder mystery experience The Invisible Hours for PlayStation VR in North America – the European version is coming on 17th October for the headset – and for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on their respective stores for the rest of the world. If you’ve been pondering a purchase, the studio has now released an immersive 360-degree video giving a closer look at the title.
The Invisible Hours is a complex murder mystery in the style of immersive theater, in which players freely explore and observe an intricate web of interwoven stories within a sprawling mansion – in order to untangle the dark truth at its heart. Rather than playing one of the characters, in The Invisible Hours players are more a fly-on-the-wall, able to freely wander around the mansion, watching the story evolve whilst discovering clues to the murder of Nikola Tesla.
You can watch the 360-degree video below, controllable with a mouse or WASD keys. Or for a more immersive experience watch the trailer through the YouTube app on Gear VR or Google Daydream.
Upcoming interactive murder-mystery experience The Invisible Hours was set to be released on the 10th October, 2017. While players in North America will still be able to enjoy the title from that date, users in Europe will have to wait a little longer.
The development team at Tequila Works have announced that the European release date forThe Invisible Hours has been put back to the 17th October, 2017. A reason for the delay has not been given.
The Invisible Hours is a narrative-based virtual reality (VR) experience that is due for release for the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. Inspired by classic murder mysteries from the likes of Agatha Christie, The Invisible Hours presents a story set in the 19th Century where a group of strangers find themselves at a mysterious manor house, all suspects in the death of famous scientist Nikola Tesla.
Instead of stepping into the shoes of one of the characters, the player instead takes on a more intangible, invisible overseer, able to observe goings-on and decide which conversations to eavesdrop on to attempt to unravel the mystery. The result is a non-linear type of storytelling where time becomes an important resource that must be spent carefully, lest a vital clue be missed.
VRFocus has previously covered biographies of the main characters involved such as Gustav, a former detective haunted by a past mistake, or Thomas Edison, Tesla’s real-life rival as well as a figure in this fictional mystery. You can also check out this hands-on preview.
VRFocus will bring you further information on The Invisible Hours as it becomes available.
Interactive theater is all about breaking the fourth wall, removing the barrier between the viewer and the play at hand. Traditionally this is done by getting the audience involved, usually in the guise of a dinner murder mystery party which oftentimes harks back to classics like the board game Clue (aka Cluedo) and literally anything by Agatha Christie. Tequila Works‘ upcoming VR experience, The Invisible Hours, doesn’t remove this barrier as such, but rather mobilizes it, letting you observe unnoticed as every aspect of the period piece unfolds before you.
To accomplish this, The Invisible Hours gives you the power to control time. With a game clock on your left hand and locomotion controls on you right, it effectively lets you explore every thread in the story in room-scale and follow all of the seven suspects across the experience’s remote mansion, located on an island where you try to figure out who killed world-renowned engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla.
Maybe it was the tortured and endlessly womanizing Thomas Edison? Maybe it was the oil magnate’s son who has a death wish? The French actress who lies for a living? Everyone has their secrets, and everyone has dirt on someone, so there’s no telling until the very end.
A quick note:The Invisible Hours will support Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, and includes support for respective motion controllers. If you’re not into teleportation and snap-turn ‘VR comfort mode’ controls, this may not be for you.
Getting a chance to play the first chapter (of four in total), my initial instinct was to let the story play out like a film; no stopping time and only following the main beats. It wasn’t long until a rough Cockney character slunk into the murder scene that I felt the indelible pull the power of time control now had over me. I had to retrace his steps to see what he was up to before all of this. I had to set back the clock.
image courtesy Tequila Works
Only a few minutes into the mystery, I rewound (shown in Benny Hill-esque real-time) to the point before you’re dropped into existence beside the first character to whom you’re introduced, the Swedish detective Gustav Gustav. This time, instead of restarting at the docks with Gustav, I followed the suspicious Cockney character to a side room to find him speaking to someone who wasn’t there. Was he praying? Was he insane? I couldn’t tell.
I sniffed around the entire house for clues, read every diary, listened to every bit of dialogue, and replayed the chapter over and over piecemeal until I had a full picture of what was transpiring—not only out of duty to cover this for the purpose of a written preview, but because I was honestly engaging with the story. That said, it took me an hour and a half to play through the first chapter, which would take you a real-time 15 minutes once through, an impossible task with just how interesting each character appears.
image courtesy Tequila Works
Although characters are safely on the near-side of the Uncanny Valley, they’re still imbued with humanity thanks to excellent voice acting and natural posturing. Speaking with Tequila Works’ CEO Raúl Rubio, he told me that script writing and motion capture made up a big portion of The Invisible Hours’ development time, which in his words “is not a game, or a movie, it’s immersive theater.”
Rubio told me that although requiring a lengthy 2-year development period, the studio is interested in producing more immersive theater experiences in the same vein, possibly covering more genres like sci-fi now that they’ve created a viable mold. When asked if 7 characters was the limit for a production like this, Rubio told me that adding, say, double the characters didn’t really double the work to be done, but rather made it an exponential task.
image courtesy Tequila Works
There’s also a question of how space is used. In The Invisible Hours, the story is constricted to a small island with a single mansion. While the house is fairly large (larger than you might think), it’s intentionally designed to allow for a good mix of friction between characters as to drive the story forward. Rubio told me it’ll be some time until we see immersive theater pieces covering larger areas, say the size of a city, and that ultimately it isn’t really possible in the short-term while maintaining the same production value.
There’s no firm launch date yet, but I’ll be charging head-first into the full game soon, so check back for our review sometime in the near future.
There’s less than a month to go before Tequila Works releases its virtual reality (VR) murder-mystery experience The Invisible Hours for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR. Last weekend VRFocus brought you the full character bios and today there’s some new sceenshots to take look at.
First up, the studio has released three 360-degree images showcasing two of the rooms inside the mansion, with a creepy looking outdoor scene for good measure. The other images are some standard screenshots, showing more of the house and the characters, one of whom is a murderer.
Rather than playing one of the characters, in The Invisible Hours players are more a fly-on-the -wall, uncovering an intricate web of interwoven stories. They can freely wander around the mansion, watching the story evolve whilst discovering clues to the murder of Nikola Tesla.
As the launch draws near, VRFocus will keep you updated regarding any further announcements.
