Walkabout Mini Golf's developers are planning a retro Las Vegas course inspired by Elvis Presley.
Mighty Coconut is planning to release a course in 2025 inspired by Elvis Presley's connection to the original man-made escape from reality in the Nevada desert.
Called Viva Las Elvis, Mighty Coconut is teaming with licensing partner Authentic Brands Group to bring the namesake's Vegas era into VR.
“We’d been looking for a way to make a retro Las Vegas course, and the pop-culture vibe of Elvis provided a unique way to come at the world building and the gameplay mechanics,” said Lucas Martell, creator of Walkabout Mini Golf and head of Mighty Coconut, in a prepared statement. “Authentic Brands Group has been a supportive partner in not only imagining a totally fictional space for people to mini golf and explore in Elvis’ Vegas, but also to create custom Elvis avatars so players can start impersonating in-game. This kicks off a series of licensed avatar packs including creatures from Henson’s Dark Crystal and Fraggle Rock, as well as a set from Exploding Kittens.”
The musical elements of the upcoming course are still an open question, Martell told UploadVR. With many months left before their release target in 2025 to work out a plan there, Walkabout's Jim Henson-partnered Labyrinth course works even without David Bowie's music accompanying the maze. That's because Walkabout is already equipped with an ambiance-creating soundtrack from Chris Reyman, available on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. In recent paid course releases, the studio also recreated the vibe of Venice or the Eiffel Tower as it appeared at its opening in 1899 using Reyman's sounds as background. So why not also the bright lights of Las Vegas and iconography of Elvis Presley?
We met briefly with Martell in the game's Welcome Island to hear about the plan.
The course fits into a packed schedule for the development studio seeing new courses, avatar packs and features filling out the schedule through 2025. Near term, the studio is releasing a gadget-filled course inspired by Wallace & Gromit, following a late 2023 partnership with art collective Meow Wolf and 2022 partnerships with Jim Henson and Myst creator Cyan.
Mighty Coconut confirmed they're planning to add $1.99 avatar packs for Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal, as well as packs for Exploding Kittens and one for Elvis as well.
