Fox Is Creating A Free-Roam VR Experience Based On The 'Alien' Franchise

FoxNext, the interactive entertainment branch of Fox, is creating a virtual reality experience based on the “Alien” franchise. The experience will reportedly be free-roaming where participants will walk around a facility to navigate a virtual world full of xenomorphs.

A proof of concept for the new “Alien” VR experience was shown off to members of the press last week. The multiplayer game will be open to the public by the end of the year. When it’s completed, four players will be able to roam a 2,000 square feet environment equipped with prop guns and a VR headset.

The game will also have haptic effects, hand tracking and will even have environmental effects like heat, mist, a motion platform and “physical elements” to make it as immersive as possible, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“FoxNext was created to support our motion pictures and with the view that technology is creating an opportunity for us to really revolutionize the way stories will be told in the future,” FoxNext president Salil Mehta told THR. “There's enormous innovation occurring that allows real interactive storytelling, and we created divisions to focus on games, VR and location-based entertainment. We're trying to define the best ways to create content for each.”

The demo was made possible using the Samsung Gear VR headset along with proprietary wireless VR technology from iP2 Entertainment, FoxNext’s partner that helps in developing and operating these kinds of location-based attractions. It wasn’t made clear if the final version of this attraction will still use the Gear VR headset, or if the companies will use a proprietary device.

FoxNext has also partnered with the VR content creator PureImagination Studios. The studio is also known for creating the “Justice League 4D” ride for Six Flags Over Texas and the “Angry Birds 4D Experience” at Thorpe Park in England.

Since the new “Alien” VR experience will use volumetric capture techniques, it’s possible that sets will be made for the attraction that will correspond to the virtual world, according to Digital Trends. There’s currently no information yet on where exactly this new VR attraction will be made available to the public

FoxNext is expected to have its own location at the 20th Century Fox World theme park in Malaysia, which is scheduled to open later this year. It’s possible that Fox may simply lease its new “Alien” VR attraction to other theme parks in order to bring it to the United States, as pointed out by Tech Spot.

Fox is no stranger when it comes to making VR attractions based on its properties. It previously made a VR experience for the 2015 film, “The Martian,” and most recently for “Alien: Covenant.” FoxNext also says that it is already working on other VR experiences based on its other IPs. It’s been suggested that “Avatar” and “Planet of the Apes” might be the top two brands that will get their own respective VR attractions.

“We are constantly assessing properties for the potential they have in the VR attraction space, and being immersed in the ‘Alien’ universe inspires some of the most compelling and emotional reactions,” PureImagination co-founder Joshua Wexler said.