The Office Is Getting Its Own Video Game
The Office is getting a video game. Here's what we know so far.
This article is more than 2 years old
Over the years The Office has become one of the most-watched and most beloved TV shows of the past two decades. The quirky satirical mockumentary debuted on NBC in 2005 and ran for a total of nine seasons. A few years after its last episode aired it landed on Netflix where it found renewed vitality and an arguably even larger fanbase. Fan momentum for The Office has not slowed down since and now fans can look forward to reliving all of their favorite moments through a new mobile game based on the show that is expected to launch later this year.
The news first broke on indie game developer East Side Games’s (subsidiary of Leaf Mobile) Twitter page. The company’s post revealed their excitement in being able to announce The Office: Somehow We Manage and directed fans to the game’s official website where one can sign up to receive updates on the game’s development. Check out their latest tweet below.
East Side Games is still remaining pretty tight-lipped over any specific plot details surrounding what The Office: Somehow We Manage could entail or what exactly gameplay could look like. However, The Hollywood Reporter did point out that it will feature “iconic moments” from the show and that players would likely be in charge of running Dunder Mifflin and keeping profits in the black. Additionally, it is likely that the game is purely text-based, so it is unlikely that players will get to hear the voices of familiar cast members like Steve Carell (Michael Scott) and John Krasinski (Jim Halpert). However, an official confirmation regarding whether not any voice talent was needed for The Office game has yet to be disclosed.
While any information regarding plot specifics for The Office: Somehow We Manage are still very vague, Screen Rant pointed out that what is clear are the platforms (Apple’s App Store and Google Play) on which the game will be released and the business model that the game will adopt. Nowadays, specifically mobile games, tend to launch as free-to-play titles that offer options to buy In-app purchases that make it easier to progress through the game. The Office game will follow suit with this growing trend and be free to initially download and play. Wildly popular mobile games like Fortnite (Epic Games) and Pokemon Go (Niantic) and have garnered much success by going that route. It is likely the developers of The Office: Somehow We Manage thought that this type of format would give the game its best chance at success.
Given The Office’s abundant and perpetual popularity, it is likely that fan interest will draw them in to try out the new game, especially because its point of entry is free of charge. However, even though The Office: Somehow We Manage will adopt the popular free-to-play strategy, that strategy does not come without its own hurdles. For instance, even though Pokemon Go continues to break mobile gaming records, Niantic and The Pokemon Company have also received a lot of criticism from fans when changes are implemented. It still remains to be seen if The Office game will receive those same types of critiques as Pokemon Go, and while there is no official release date as of yet, fans can look forward to the game’s launch later in 2021.
