'Stranger Things' Installment Featuring Entire Cast Likely to Keep Franchise Alive After Season 5

Stranger Things is set to end with its fifth and final season, which as yet has no release window. But that’s just the Netflix series — the rest of the franchise will continue with stage plays (Stranger Things: The First Shadow), spinoffs, comic books, novels, and video games.

The recent arrival of Stranger Things VR (2024), which allows players to control Upside Down’s “dark wizard” Vecna/Henry Creel/One (Jamie Campbell Bower) as he terrorizes teens throughout Hawkins, has cemented the IP’s place within the video game medium.

It may have been met with mixed reviews, but the fact that Stranger Things is now turning this area of entertainment “upside down” can only be a good thing. In addition to the new virtual reality experience, there are three Stranger Things mobile games — but that’s it.

(L to R) Erica Sinclair, Max Mayfield, and Lucas Sinclair at the graveyard in 'Stranger Things' Season 4 — Credit: Netflix

We came close to Stranger Things: The Game from Telltale Games, which would have adopted the same episodic adventure format as the likes of other Telltale titles such as Jurassic Park: The Game (2011) and Back to the Future: The Game (2015), but that project was canceled.

So, right now, Stranger Things VR is the closest we have to a proper video game set in the world created by the Netflix sci-fi television series. However, with the franchise set to expand beyond the flagship show, there could be scope for a Stranger Things open-world game.

Open-world video games have always been hugely popular with gamers, but they’re currently more trendy than ever before. Hogwarts Legacy (2023) flew straight to the top of the gaming charts last year, the end of which also saw Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (2023) arrive on major consoles.

The D&D club huddling in 'Stranger Things' Season 4 — Credit: Netflix

Other open-world titles populating the horizon are Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Jurassic Park: Survival (TBA) and Grand Theft Auto VI (2025), to name just a few sandbox-style games under blockbuster banners that will be consuming our lives over the next few years.

So it’s high time Stranger Things got the open-world treatment: a third-person game set in a fully realized Hawkins with access to the surrounding wilderness, the subterranean Hawkins lab, and, of course, the terrifying shadow dimension known as the Upside Down.

As for playable characters, the option to switch freely between many familiar faces would likely go down a treat with fans: Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Steve Harrington (Joe Keery), Jim Hopper (David Harbour), Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), and Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin).

Perhaps the game could take place before Season 1, in between seasons, or after Season 5, depending on how things play out.

'Stranger Things' characters looking up at the sky in the Season 4 finale — Credit: Netflix

While there are a handful of Stranger Things spinoffs in development, an open-world game could also help the franchise maintain or even grow its popularity. The success of Hogwarts Legacy has done wonders for Harry Potter, with Warner Bros. now planning more similar gaming titles set in the Wizarding World, along with a number of television shows intended for HBO.

Neither Netflix nor the Duffer brothers have mentioned a Stranger Things open-world game, but it’s probably only a matter of time before it happens.

The First Shadow is now playing at the Phoenix Theater. Check out the trailer below:

For information on tickets and showtimes, visit the official website.

Stranger Things seasons 1 — 4 are now streaming on Netflix.

Stranger Things stars Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Bob Newby (Sean Astin), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven/Jane Hopper), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson), Paul Reiser (Dr. Sam Owens), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Matthew Modine (Papa/Martin Brenner), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), and Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna/One/Henry Creel).

Would you play a Stranger Things open-world video game? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!