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Netflix announces The Conjuring: Unspoken, a phone-controlled TV game, for 13 October

Netflix has announced The Conjuring: Unspoken, a horror game from Supermassive Games that uses a phone as the controller and launches on Netflix on 13 October. Coverage differs on context: The Verge points to studio layoffs, Screen Rant to the franchise's uneven record.

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: The Verge
Image: Screen Rant

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Netflix announced The Conjuring: Unspoken, a horror game set in The Conjuring universe that is played with a phone as the controller and launches exclusively on Netflix on 13 October. Left · 1Netflix describes it as an interactive paranormal investigation and a narrative experience in which players shape the story by choosing dialogue options. Mixed · 2Players take the role of demonologist Francesca Noakes and search the Red Lion Inn, a reportedly haunted place in England, using an electromagnetic field reader, an infrared camera and a spirit box. The action appears on the TV while the phone serves as the controller for these tools.

Mixed · 2Netflix says players need to have seen the Conjuring films, though it adds that a few familiar faces appear and knowing the backstory adds to the impact. Netflix also shared a trailer on YouTube. Mixed · 2The game was developed by Supermassive Games, known for narrative horror titles such as The Quarry and Until Dawn. Left · 1The Verge notes that Supermassive said in August it planned to lay off up to 75 staff, and that a former IT and facilities director said on LinkedIn that more than 70 people would be leaving. It also notes that Netflix's previous horror game, Unhinged, launched in June and that Netflix shut down its developer, Night School, in August.

Centre · 1Screen Rant calls Netflix's gaming efforts a mixed bag but says this title leans into the platform's strengths, while noting some fans may want a console version. It asks whether the game can live up to the franchise name, citing weaker reception for The Devil Made Me Do It and Last Rites than for the first two films.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
A news item on Netflix expanding its TV game lineup, with context on turmoil at the studios behind its games.
Emphasis
Netflix's own game description, the Supermassive layoffs and the closure of Night School.
Leaves out or plays down
Says little about the franchise's film reception or the game's likely quality.
For example
“Netflix expands TV game lineup with Conjuring spinoff” — The Verge
“Supermassive’s former IT and facilities director said yesterday on LinkedIn that “more than 70” people would be leaving the studio.” — The Verge

Centre1 outlet

Framing
A fan-oriented preview that treats the game as the next Conjuring franchise release and weighs its prospects.
Emphasis
The film franchise's history and reception, and how the phone-as-controller format suits the game.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the Supermassive layoffs or the Night School closure.
Charged language
“mixed bag”“downward trend”
For example
“The big question is whether Unspoken will manage to live up to The Conjuring name” — Screen Rant
“Netflix's ventures into the gaming space have been a mixed bag” — Screen Rant

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.