Skip to main content

VR success I Expect You to Die is getting a sequel

VR success I Expect You to Die is getting a sequel

/

The first game made $6 million

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

I Expect You To Die 2 logo over a gameplay image

Schell Games is making a sequel to its massively successful virtual reality game I Expect You to Die, and it’s expected to come out later this year.

Along with the announcement, the studio mentioned the original game earned $6 million in revenue across all VR platforms, which could explain how it can afford to make a sequel. It isn’t yet clear which VR platforms the next game will come to, but it will at least arrive on Steam, which indicates support for Vive, Index, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

The original was more or less a spy-themed escape room in VR, and the second one looks like it’ll be more of the same, which isn’t necessarily unwelcome in a world where real-life escape rooms aren’t really accessible during a pandemic.

So far, most of the early era VR games people would recognize haven’t gotten follow-ups, and that’s doubly true for ones made by indie studios. While Lone Echo has a sequel in the works, the studio behind it was bought by Facebook and is now a part of Oculus Studios. Similarly, Job Simulator’s sequel (Vacation Simulator, of course), was made after the studio behind it was purchased by Google.

Superhot was super fun when it came to VR, but its sequel doesn’t yet support VR play. I could go on, making a list of VR games that haven’t gotten sequels like Arizona Sunshine, Boneworks, and Beat Saber (not that it needs one), but you get the picture.

Hopefully, this sequel announcement speaks to the fact that VR is coming out of a slump. It had a pretty successful 2020, with the release of Half-Life: Alyx and the Oculus Quest 2, but one year of success doesn’t necessarily indicate a trend. As with all things, content is king, and VR will need to keep having killer releases to gain market share. Obviously, it’s not all on I Expect You to Die 2’s shoulders, but if it can replicate the success of the original, it could indicate that the VR market is getting back on its feet.