On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, Variety’s Jennifer Maas explains how notable directors David Fincher and Zach Cregger helped shape Netflix’s ambitious new property “Unhinged,” which is a video game that plays like a TV series and your smartphone is the controller.
“Unhinged” marks a level up for Netflix in the creative ambition for its slate of video games. It was produced by the Night School game studio that Netflix acquired in 2021 as it ramped up gaming activity. Maas explains that Netflix wants to keep players engaged with their big TV screens as long as possible and that “Unhinged” is design to serve as a hybrid between a game and a TV series.
“They’ve been experimenting mainly in mobile games. And just this past month, they launched a FIFA World Cup game — that was their first big thing you could play on a TV,” Maas says. “And then on the heels of that came ‘Unhinged.’ Very different genre, completely, from a FIFA game. But both are connected in that what Netflix wants to do is have you play on the TV or on your computer, but using your phone as your controller. So you don’t have a traditional gaming controller, but you’re also not playing a mobile game.”
And in fact, the phone’s functions are engaged as part of the gameplay.
“One of the cool things that they can do is you use your phone like a phone during this game. You take fake calls on it, you see text messages on it, and it’s very much still your remote that helps you get around,” Maas says. “They really make it easy for you to just enter the game and not have to worry about anything that you would need to play a traditional video game. They want to make it very easy for you to play their games with your phone.”
Fincher, who launched Netflix into the original content game in 2013 with drama series “House of Cards,” and Cregger kept their involvement in the game secret, until Maas’ reported on their involvement. Otherwise, it’s understated in the credits for “Unhinged,” where the two get a thank-you at the end. The title also features notable stars Zoë Kravitz and Sadie Sink in voice roles.
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