So Behaviour Interactive, the studio that made a fortune out of stabbing teenagers in the dark with Dead by Daylight, is now taking on Blade Runner. Let that sink in for a moment.
The announcement landed this week with the kind of corporate precision that makes a cynical journalist raise an eyebrow. Behaviour, Alcon Entertainment (the rights holders who actually know what to do with the IP, unlike some other studios I could name), and PHI Studio — the Montreal-based team behind the fairly impressive Space Explorers: THE INFINITE — are collaborating on a location-based VR experience set to hit “VR destinations” sometime next year.
No, it’s not a game you can play at home on your Quest 3. Not yet, anyway. This is a destination experience. You know the drill: you put on a backpack PC, strap on a headset, and walk through a physical space that’s been mapped into a virtual one. Like The Void, if you remember that, but hopefully less vomit-inducing.
I have questions. Lots of them. And I suspect you do too.
What We Actually Know — and What We Don’t
Let’s start with the facts, because they’re thin on the ground. Behaviour Interactive is developing the experience. Alcon is providing the IP. PHI Studio is co-producing, bringing their location-based VR expertise to the table. The experience will be “immersive,” which in 2024 means you’ll probably walk around, interact with objects, and maybe — if we’re lucky — feel like you’re actually in the rain-soaked, neon-drenched streets of 2019 Los Angeles.
Or 2049 Los Angeles. Or wherever the hell the new Blade Runner timeline is these days. The franchise has become a bit of a temporal pretzel, hasn’t it?
What struck me here is the choice of developer. Behaviour is not exactly known for narrative-driven, atmospheric experiences. Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer horror game where one player hunts the others. It’s fun, sure, but it’s a far cry from the slow-burn existential dread of Blade Runner. The game is about tension, but it’s a chaotic, jump-scare kind of tension. Blade Runner is about a different kind of tension — the quiet, philosophical kind that makes you question what it means to be human.
Can Behaviour pull that off? I’m not sure. But I’m willing to be surprised.
Location-Based VR: The Comeback Kid?
Remember when location-based VR was supposed to be the next big thing? Around 2016-2018, every mall and entertainment center in the world seemed to be installing a VR arcade. The Void had a Star Wars experience that was genuinely impressive, even if it cost a small fortune per session. Then COVID hit, and the whole sector took a nosedive.
But it didn’t die. It just got quieter. PHI Studio’s Space Explorers was one of the few experiences that actually got people talking post-pandemic. It was a 45-minute walkthrough that simulated being on the International Space Station, and it was surprisingly good. Not perfect — the backpack PCs were still heavy, and the graphics were a generation behind what you’d get on a high-end PCVR headset — but the sense of presence was real.
So PHI knows what they’re doing. That gives me some hope.
But let’s be honest: location-based VR has a scalability problem. It’s expensive to build, expensive to maintain, and the audience is limited to people who live near or can travel to the installation. It’s not a mass-market play. It’s a premium, boutique experience. That’s fine for a Blade Runner fan who’s willing to drop $40-60 for a 20-minute walkthrough. But it’s not going to change the industry.
And honestly? I think that’s okay. Not every VR experience needs to be the next Beat Saber. Some things are allowed to be niche.
The IP Problem: Why Blade Runner Is Hard to Adapt
Here’s the thing about Blade Runner: it’s not a video game. It’s not even really a movie franchise in the traditional sense. It’s a mood. It’s a visual aesthetic. It’s a philosophical question wrapped in a noir detective story. The original 1982 film was a box office disappointment that became a cult classic on home video. The 2017 sequel, Blade Runner 2049, was a critical darling that also underperformed commercially. This is not Star Wars. It’s not Marvel. It’s a delicate, atmospheric property that doesn’t translate easily into interactive media.
And yet, people keep trying. There have been point-and-click adventure games, a VR experience on the original Oculus Rift that was basically a tech demo, and now this. None of them have really captured the soul of the original. Why? Because the soul of Blade Runner is in the details — the rain, the neon reflections, the slow, melancholic Vangelis score, the moments of silence between the action.
Can a VR destination experience replicate that? Maybe. If they focus on atmosphere rather than gameplay. If they let you just be in that world for a while, without forcing you to solve puzzles or fight replicants. If they understand that the most memorable scene in the original film is Roy Batty’s “Tears in Rain” monologue — a moment of pure, quiet humanity from a character who isn’t supposed to have any.
But I’m skeptical. Most VR experiences, especially location-based ones, are designed to be active. They want you to shoot things, solve puzzles, move quickly. That’s the opposite of what makes Blade Runner special.
Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Behaviour and PHI will surprise us. Maybe they’ll create something that’s more about observation than interaction. A VR experience where you play as a detective, but the real gameplay is just looking — at the city, at the people, at the details that make the world feel alive.
A man can dream, right?
What I’d Want From a Blade Runner VR Experience
Since I’m a journalist with opinions and a platform, allow me to indulge in a little wishlisting. If I were designing this experience, here’s what I’d do:
- Make it slow. No running. No shooting. You’re a Blade Runner, but the action is in the investigation. Let me examine evidence, talk to suspects, piece together clues. Give me a digital notebook I can flip through.
- Focus on sound. The rain. The distant hovercars. The crackle of a neon sign. The Voight-Kampff machine’s whir. Audio is half the immersion in Blade Runner.
- Let me sit. Give me a bench in a rainy alleyway and let me just watch the city go by. That’s the kind of presence that traditional VR games miss.
- Include a moment of genuine pathos. A replicant who doesn’t know they’re a replicant. A moral choice that has no right answer. That’s the heart of the franchise.
- And for god’s sake, get the aesthetic right. The yellow-green smog. The giant advertising blimps. The cramped, cluttered interiors. Get those details wrong, and the whole thing falls apart.
Will any of this happen? Probably not. Most likely we’ll get a 15-minute experience where you walk through a few set pieces, shoot a replicant or two, and then it’s over. The corporate pressure to make something “fun” and “accessible” usually trumps artistic ambition. But I’d love to be proven wrong.
The Broader VR Landscape: Where Does This Fit?
Let’s zoom out for a moment. The VR industry in 2024 is in an interesting place. Consumer VR is growing slowly but steadily — the Quest 3 is a solid device, and Apple’s Vision Pro has brought spatial computing into the mainstream conversation, even if it’s priced for millionaires. Location-based VR, meanwhile, is making a quiet recovery. Companies like Zero Latency and Sandbox VR are expanding. Museums are commissioning VR experiences as part of their exhibits. The market is there, but it’s not huge.
What Blade Runner brings to the table is brand recognition and a built-in fanbase that cares. This isn’t a generic sci-fi shooter. This is a property with emotional weight. If the experience is good, it could be a tentpole for the whole location-based VR sector. If it’s bad, it’ll be another cautionary tale about IP mismanagement.
I’ve seen too many VR adaptations of beloved franchises fail because the developers didn’t understand why people loved the original. The Walking Dead VR games were decent but forgettable. Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge was fine but felt like a theme park ride. The Jurassic World VR experience was basically a shooting gallery with dinosaurs. None of them captured the essence of their source material. They were just skin-deep.
Will Blade Runner be different? I don’t know. But I’m paying attention.
Final Thoughts: Hope and Skepticism in Equal Measure
I want this to be good. I really do. Blade Runner is one of those rare properties that feels tailor-made for VR — a world that rewards close observation, a tone that benefits from immersion, a story that works best when you’re inside it. The potential is enormous.
But the track record of IP-based VR experiences is, to put it charitably, mixed. And Behaviour Interactive is an odd choice. I’m not saying they can’t do it — Dead by Daylight has some genuinely atmospheric moments — but it’s not an obvious fit.
Maybe that’s the point. Maybe Behaviour wants to prove they can do more than multiplayer horror. Maybe PHI’s experience with Space Explorers will elevate the project. Maybe Alcon will actually give them the creative freedom to make something special.
Or maybe it’ll be a cynical cash grab designed to extract money from nostalgic fans before the IP license expires. I’ve been burned before.
One thing is certain: I’ll be first in line to try it. And I’ll write about it with the same honesty I’ve brought to every VR experience I’ve covered for the past ten years. No corporate fluff. No hype. Just the truth about whether this thing actually works.
Stay tuned. The rain is coming.
Further Reading
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