Here’s a collaboration no-one saw coming: Steven Spielberg’s 1975 horror classic Jaws is coming to Roblox, the hugely successful creation platform beloved by a predominately young audience. But then I probably saw Jaws when I was about eight years old (obsessed with sharks), so I can talk.
The experience, to use Roblox’s terminology, has been developed by Orange Comet / Gcraft in collaboration with Universal and is called Jaws: Infested Waters (as first reported by Bloody Disgusting). I hadn’t heard of Orange Comet so looked up the studio’s past work and… well, if you want to buy an NFT of Anthony Hopkins’ face, they’ve got you covered. Its past dalliance with fads aside, however, this Jaws adaptation actually looks pretty neat, and seems to have a few similarities to how the Jaws board game works.
Yes, I like Jaws so much I bought the board game and made other adults play it with me. Jaws: Infested Waters lets players assume the role of either shark or one of the shark hunters: one player is randomly selected as the shark then has to eat swimmers, avoid detection, and upgrade their abilities. The shark can also, apparently “tail whip players across the map”. Just like in the movie!
The board game lets players assume the role of Chief Brody, Hooper or Quint, each of whom have different abilities, and while Jaws: Infested Waters isn’t clear about its shark hunters the trailer shows an unmistakable Roblox-y Brody. Where the two begin to diverge is in the addition of missions for the shark hunters to complete, and “underwater battles” which I can only imagine ever end one way?
I do have to add this line from the promotional copy, because it made me laugh: “see who will win the battle of the infested waters and become the ultimate sea legend.” The game is available now to some users but will officially launch in March, and curiously enough has no age rating at the time of writing.
Honestly, there’s a lot to like about this. I’ve never been an especial fan of the Roblox aesthetic but it seems to fit weirdly well here, and I find myself quite charmed by Bloxy Brody. And hey: if this sends a few kids off to get gently traumatised by one of the great Hollywood blockbusters, it’s no more than I had to go through.