Blade Runner Gets a Brand-New Immersive Experience

A collaboration between Montreal-based Behaviour Interactive and PHI Studio. A brand-new immersive experience based on the Blade Runner universe will open in 2027. Fans can immerse themselves in the world of the franchise in a way that has never been possible before.

The co-production was created in partnership with Alcon Entertainment, the owners of the Blade Runner intellectual property. The production will open in various cities in North America in 2027.

Blade Runner as an Immersive Experience

The interactive, multisensory experience will bring to life a rich dystopia. The project showcases the creative and technical expertise of Behaviour Interactive. Co-producer PHI Studio’s Executive Director Julie Tremblay emphasized that this is “not a film adaptation or a traditional exhibition,” but “a premium, multisensory experience combining immersive environments, cinematic visuals, spatialized sound, interactivity, and physical exploration.”

The experience will immerse visitors in the high-tech urban dystopia of Blade Runner 2049. Allowing them to explore a fully realized science fiction universe. Tremblay discussed the cultural depth of the franchise, emphasizing the prophetic quality of Blade Runner. Asking the questions that lie at the heart of this universe. “What makes us human? Who holds power? What do we owe each other in a world shaped by technology?” Questions people are living with today.

“Blade Runner is a work that has shaped the collective imagination,” Senior Vice President at Behaviour Interactive, Dominique Lebel, said. In a statement ahead of the release of the new film, they say it “marks a new chapter in Behaviour’s positioning beyond video games.”

Behaviour Interactive, founded in 1992, is Canada’s largest video game studio. Its first blockbuster hit, Dead by Daylight, has drawn almost 70 million players since its debut in 2016. While PHI Studio is known as a key player in immersive and extended reality (XR) creation.

The Franchise

Upon release, the original Blade Runner was poorly received but has since come to be considered one of the greatest films ever made. Over time, it gained popularity and developed a broader multimedia universe, like The Matrix. Both expanding through novels, comic books, and games in the years between the film entries.

The news comes right as things are underway for Blade Runner 2099 to revive the franchise, via a sci-fi miniseries created by Silka Luisa for Amazon Prime Video.

The series follows Cora, a long-time fugitive who has spent her life assuming false identities. It also follows the struggle of Olwen, a Replicant confronting the end of her programmed lifespan. The series is the sequel to both Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049. It pulls both women into a widening conspiracy that threatens Los Angeles. Created along with Helix, the greenlit series starred Michelle Yeoh.

The production was put on hold for almost a year due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes. Though the series was officially greenlit in September 2022.

In 2027, two major Blade Runner releases are in the works, and the series is far from over. Long celebrated for its depiction of a rain-soaked, dystopian future, Blade Runner is just getting started.