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In the pursuit of finding new ways to immerse viewers, studios Art on The Run and Another World VR have come together to create a new transmedia horror experience that’s said to blur the lines between cinema and VR gaming.
KOBOLD is both a live-action short film and a VR game, which together tell a story about a missing family in the middle of a dark forest in Germany. The short film is meant to be watched before playing the game and follows a young boy named Kaspar who is led somewhere dark and dangerous by his imaginary friend. The film serves as part one of the story, and once completed, the game acts as its sequel, taking place sometime after the initial events. In order to immerse players into the German folklore-inspired world they were introduced to, the film’s sets were scanned using photogrammetry for hyper-realistic 3D visuals.
Little KASPAR is dealing with the recent loss of his mother by pouring his imagination into Germanic fairy tales and by playing with his imaginary friend PIXI. When Pixi offers him a way to see his mother again, Kaspar embarks on a journey that takes him deep into a dark world that he may never return from.
The game aspect of KOBOLD puts players into the role of an urban explorer investigating Kaspar’s disappearance. In VR, the abandoned home which the film takes place in can be explored in its entirety. And according to the game description, actions can affect how the story turns out. The environment can be interacted with and there’s free movement, so we’re not talking about a 360 VR video here.
According to VR Focus, KOBOLD releases this Halloween on VivePort. It will also be available for the Oculus Rift.
