• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Techthe walking dead

The Walking Dead invade virtual reality

By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 10, 2015, 9:03 AM ET
Courtesy of Starbreze

This weekend, the public will get to experience Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead in all of its gory, repulsive glory, thanks to virtual reality.

At Walker Stalker Fan Fest—which takes place at San Diego’s Petco Park from July 10 to 11 at the same time as San Diego Comic Con—Kirkman and his company Skybound Interactive, along with game developers Starbreeze and Overkill, will show off a four-minute VR game demo that runs on the Starbreeze StarVR headset and soon-to-be-released HTC Vive headset.

Starbreeze debuted the first-person-shooter title at this year’s E3 conference in Los Angeles; now it’s taking the VR game on the road—literally. The Walking Dead RV, which will be featured at event, comes equipped with multiple game stations and StarVR headsets for fans to experience the game. The RV will be parked near The Walking Dead Escape, which is a real-life experience complete with actors wearing zombie make-up and sets inspired by the comic book universe.

“The strategy we built together for this initial rollout was to bring VR to the fans,” Dan Murray, president of Skybound Interactive, says. “A lot of people haven’t gotten their hands on VR, which we believe is a brand new medium. You have to create content for this medium.”

In the game, players take on the role of a surgeon who has sawed his legs off to prevent becoming a “walker,” and who now uses a wheelchair. The doctor is wheeled through a veterinary clinic that’s overrun by undead. Early into the game, a real-life person hands the player a shotgun that appears in the game and allows the gamer to target zombies with headshots as they attack from every direction.

Almir Listo, producer of the game at Starbreeze, says the game makes use of the dual-screen 5K display that offers a 210 degree view of the action, which immerses the player by overtaking his or her peripheral vision.

“In our world you’re completely immersed because you see the other people that are pulling your wheelchair, you see blood on the walls, and you see all the incredible details,” Listo says. “Our game tracks the shotgun peripheral and allows you to shoot at walkers with the in-game shotgun accurately.”

Starbreeze and Overkill are also developing a non-VR cooperative shooter game for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, which will ship in 2016 and is set in the same game universe. Listo says characters from that game will appear in the final VR game, which is still early in development and will be a stand-alone game.

Kirkman is working closely with the game developers to bring an authentic new experience to both projects, just as he’s worked with Telltale Studios on the critically-acclaimed bestselling The Walking Dead Season 1 and 2 episodic games.

“Robert’s very interested in what we’re doing because there hasn’t been a great first-person shooter for The Walking Dead yet,” Listo says.

Listo says the development team is taking notes as people play the game demo. That feedback will ultimately help the studio develop the final version of the VR game.

The good news for fans is that these new games will stand on their own, separate from both AMC’s original The Walking Dead show and the new Fear the Walking Dead series.

Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.

About the Author
By John Gaudiosi
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

Latest in Tech

Sam Altman looks down and to the side, frowning.
AIOpenAI
Sam Altman says he’s ‘0%’ excited to be CEO of a public company as OpenAI drops hints about an IPO: ‘In some ways I think it’d be really annoying’
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 19, 2025
11 hours ago
AIDebt
AI hyperscalers have room for ‘elevated debt issuance’ — even after their recent bond binge, BofA says
By Jason MaDecember 19, 2025
12 hours ago
Late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs
SuccessCareers
Steve Jobs sold his Volkswagen to raise $1,300 for Apple’s first computer. He became a millionaire just two years later at 23
By Emma BurleighDecember 19, 2025
12 hours ago
Yann LeCun smiles and adjusts his glasses
AIVenture Capital
AI whiz Yann LeCun is already targeting a $3.5 billion valuation for his new startup—and it hasn’t even launched yet
By Dave SmithDecember 19, 2025
12 hours ago
David Baszucki with his thumbs up
SuccessCareer Advice
Roblox CEO David Baszucki went from window cleaner to billionaire tech leader. He says a secret to success has been trusting his gut
By Preston ForeDecember 19, 2025
12 hours ago
Graphite team standing in an office
AICoding
Exclusive: Cursor acquires code review startup Graphite as AI coding competition heats up
By Beatrice NolanDecember 19, 2025
13 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
The $38 trillion national debt is to blame for over $1 trillion in annual interest payments from here on out, CRFB says
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 17, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
Meta’s 28-year-old billionaire prodigy says the next Bill Gates will be a 13-year-old who is ‘vibe coding’ right now
By Eva RoytburgDecember 19, 2025
18 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
As graduates face a ‘jobpocalypse,’ Goldman Sachs exec tells Gen Z they need to know their commercial impact 
By Preston ForeDecember 18, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
‘This is a wacky number’: economists cry foul as new government data assumes zero housing inflation in surprising November drop
By Eva RoytburgDecember 18, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Billionaire who sold two companies to Coca-Cola says he tries to persuade people not to become entrepreneurs: ‘Every single day, you can go bankrupt’
By Dave SmithDecember 19, 2025
14 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
The scientist who helped create AI says it’s only ‘a matter of time’ before every single job is wiped out—even safer trade jobs like plumbing
By Orianna Rosa RoyleDecember 19, 2025
15 hours ago

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.