When Netflix acquired Oxenfree developers Night School Studio, it seemed like the streaming company was starting to get serious about getting into the video game industry. What followed was unfortunately every indication against that, with layoffs at Night School and the shuttering of the triple-A team it spun up and attracted veteran talent for. Its games strategy has since been nothing but mobile iterations of some PC games or just straight-up mobile and party games, with the short-lived experimentation of interactive episodes like Black Mirror's Bandersnatch.
Now, however, it seems like Netflix is levelling up its game, so to speak, when it comes to its video game strategy. Unhinged appears to be that step-up, and it's also the next game from Night School Studio. A short, 40-minute experience that officially launches next week on June 30, 2026, where players use their phones as a motion controller of sorts to aim a flashlight, and it looks much more like a traditional horror game you'd play on your PC or console.
It's also got some serious star power behind it, starring Zoë Kravitz, who you may know from recent films like The Batman and Blink Twice, or from one of the many projects she's led in her long career, and Stranger Things actor Sadie Sink.
You play as Ava, voiced by Kravitz, as you try to survive a home invasion while Claire, voiced by Sink, helps guide you over the phone. You'll have also noticed veteran voice actor Troy Baker's name appear in the trailer. He rounds out the cast as the building's superintendent, Ben.
Once you connect your phone after scanning a QR code, you'll be responsible for aiming the flashlight, and if you're playing in Standard mode, you'll have to quickly find the correct interactive object in your surroundings that could mean the difference between life and death. Story mode, however, gives you as much time as you need and lets you play through the story without fear of dying.
Certain audio cues will play through your phone instead of your TV's speaker, similar to how we see the speaker on the PS5's DualSense controller utilized, and with the vocal talent on offer here, it's easy to see how this could all come together for a thrilling and engaging experience offered on Netflix.
In an interview with Game File, head of Night School Studio Sean Krankel offered a bit of what the studio was thinking with their approach to Unhinged. While Krankel doesn't paint Night School into a corner and games like this are all Night School will work on moving forward, if Unhinged is as good as it appears to be, more games of its ilk seem like a no-brainer for Netflix moving forward.
"Our vision for this is: How [do] we take people who love horror and thriller films and TV shows and bring them closer to interactivity?" Krankel said. "We went, 'Well, what's one of the things that's the most daunting about games in general to a lot of folks who may not even play games? And it's like, not just the skill threshold, but also the time investment. If people are on Netflix expecting 30 minutes to an hour of a show or a film or a series, this really kind of fits inside that."
We'll see how players react to Unhinged next week, but it's exciting to at least see Netflix try something other than bringing a select few indie and party games to mobile. If it works, it could create a whole new area of the industry for developers to find success, and further align game developers with their Hollywood counterparts.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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