The classic Saturday morning cartoon series Voltron received the Hollywood reboot treatment last year with Voltron: Legendary Defender on Netflix. Produced by DreamWorks, the show has already finished its third season in just a little over a year, with a fourth on the way.
Franchise owner Universal announced today that the special effects shop Digital Domain is creating a Voltron virtual reality experience for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR. Coming in at $14.99, Voltron VR Chronicles is available for pre-order on Sony’s platform with a 20% discount for those who commit today. The experience will be available for all three headsets on September 26th.
Voltron VR Chronicles sets the player in the role of a “Paladin of Voltron” who will, “join forces with characters Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Keith, Shiro, Allura and Coran in a narrative where they fight back against the relentless threat of Zarkon by solving puzzles and conquering challenges.”
Universal did not reveal much about the gameplay outside of the above reference to puzzles and a short sentence on Sony’s store that mentions space battles. The press release announcing the experience claims it will have, “a fully-immersive environment with interactive elements.” When taken with the fact that Universal’s marketing never uses the word ‘game’ to describe their announcement, it seems pretty clear that Voltron VR Chronicles will likely be similar in scope to guided tours like Batman Arkham VR or the demos of PlayStation Worlds Which is right in-line with its price point.
It’s notable that Universal chose a virtual reality tie-in to promote their franchise. Shows ostensibly made for children, like Voltron, tend to focus on mobile tie-ins these days. They’re cheap, and, as any parent or teacher can tell you, mobile is the dominant gaming platform for children. The choice to create a VR tie-in could be taken as a sign of VR’s success. It’s clear that the developers and publisher feel that the three dominant headsets have enough market penetration to reach kids and tweens.
