Sandbox VR opened bookings today for Deadwood Origins, a new full-body location-based chapter in its Deadwood zombie franchise. The experience starts September 25 at participating venues in the U.S., Canada, and Hong Kong, with additional international markets opening bookings on September 22.
According to Sandbox VR’s September 15 announcement, Origins is a prequel that traces the zombie outbreak to its source before Deadwood Mansion, Deadwood Valley, and Deadwood PHOBIA. Guests play an elite security squad escorting a disease specialist to a jungle village that has gone dark. After infected wildlife downs their aircraft, the run moves through a crash site, an abandoned village, a moving gondola, and temple ruins, with undead enemies, infected wildlife, and a large serpent in the mix.
The pitch is social, not solo headset gaming. Groups of up to six move together on Sandbox VR’s proprietary full-body platform—motion tracking, haptic vests, headsets, and physical props—so players can see and physically interact with one another inside the same space. Sandbox frames that shared presence as the gap between location-based VR and at-home headsets.
Franchise math from the company: the three earlier Deadwood titles have sold more than 2.66 million tickets and generated more than $140 million in sales. Creative director Michael Hampden called Origins “the biggest and most ambitious experience we’ve ever made,” positioning it as both a chronological entry point and a self-contained adventure.
Deadwood Origins joins Sandbox’s slate alongside licensed Netflix collaborations (Stranger Things: Catalyst, Squid Game Virtuals) and Age of Dinosaurs with London’s Natural History Museum. The operator says it runs 90+ venues worldwide and draws more than 150,000 guests a month.
Bookings are live at sandboxvr.com/experience/deadwood-origins. Local availability still depends on which franchise and corporate locations opt into the September 25 start window.