Groundhog Day (1993), the iconic ’90s film starring Bill Murray, is getting its very own full-length VR game soon—well, sort of. Dubbed Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, you’ll be able to jump back into the world of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, this time stepping into the shoes of Phil Connors Jr., the son of the man who lived the same day over and over until he learned the meaning of existence.
Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son is being developed by Tequila Works, the developers behind The Invisible Hours (2017). The game is said to include a similar narrative mechanic to The Invisible Hours, which lets you live out different parts of the story and repeat them until you learn how to make it out of the time-loop.
The studio claims Groundhog Day VR will provide eight hours of puzzles and branching narrative gameplay.
Published by Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR) and produced by SPVR and MWM Immersive, Groundhog Day VR is slated to land on the PlayStation Store later this year for PSVR. The studio makes mention of “other major VR platforms” as well, showing both the Oculus and Vive logos. It’s uncertain whether this means PSVR has timed exclusivity, or if it’s set for simultaneous release on all platforms.
“Like we did in The Invisible Hours, we are working with talented facial and motion capture artists to create a unique, immersive experience,” explains Tequila Works creative director and CEO of Raul Rubio in a PS blogpost.
Unlike The Invisible Hours however, the player is supposed to be an active, “disruptive element” in the story, hopefully meaning there will be more opportunities for personal choices.
Rubio says the game contains a time loop mechanic with multiple branching narratives, and “the same dark humor of the original film, letting us play around with the inherent instinct of every VR player to mess with everything around them.”