By Rob Leane

Published: Wednesday, 07 September 2022 at 12:00 am


Steven Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders, has been heaping praise on an upcoming video game spinoff. It’s called Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, and its first demo is currently being shown at the Venice Film Festival.

Here at RadioTimes.com, we’ve already had a chance to chat with the London-based developers from Maze Theory, who’ve told us that The King’s Ransom will explore the “missing years” between season 4 and season 5 of the show.

Cillian Murphy reprises his iconic role as Tommy Shelby and Paul Anderson is back as Arthur, but the role of Polly has been recast following the sad passing of Helen McCrory. And speaking of TV connections, it sounds like Steven Knight himself has been on-hand throughout the game-making process.

Speaking as the VR game’s demo is shown as part of Venice Immersive, the show’s creator said in no uncertain terms: “I’m in awe of this groundbreakingly life-like experience.”

Knight went on to mention that he is “delighted that fans, for the first time, can virtually immerse themselves into the Peaky Blinders world.”

He added: “I’m keen to see how the audience reacts to this new storytelling medium and coming face-to-face with the Shelbys, as they become a part of the story and a member of the Peaky Blinders.”

Susan Waddell — the Managing Director of Caryn Mandabach Productions, the company behind Peaky Blinders — was also moved to comment. She said: “We are thrilled for this new VR game to get the recognition it deserves – so much hard work has gone into making it.

“We know fans of the TV series love the immersive nature of the show and it’s exciting that we are getting closer to Maze being able to share it with audiences.”

Russ Harding, the CCO of the game developer Maze Theory, also said that he is “proud to be creating an authentic and high quality Peaky Blinders experience in virtual reality, which will give fans and VR enthusiasts something entirely new and extremely thrilling.”

Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom is “coming soon to VR” and you can watch the latest trailer below. You can also wishlist the game on Steam, by order of the Peaky Blinders.