The Mummy: Dark Universe Stories feels like a game I’ve invented in my dreams: an official video game sequel to the widely-derided 2017 version of The Mummy that directly follows the events of the film, with narrative and development handled by Oxenfree studio, Night School.
But despite Night School seemingly disowning the game – it doesn’t appear on the studio’s website, and all attempts to discuss the title have gone nowhere – it’s a very real game that once existed in complete form. You can’t play it any longer, as it was an iOS and Android game that relied on an always-online internet connection to a live server, but I’m determined to keep the memory of the game alive, if only to record its odd place in cinematic history.
The Mummy: Dark Universe Stories was released in June 2017, in the weeks following the release of the Mummy film. Based on what little information exists about the game, it was a project commissioned by NBCUniversal Media, with the intention for it to support the release of The Mummy, and drive interest in Universal’s burgeoning “Dark Universe” franchise.
As has been widely covered, the Dark Universe was an attempt to revive the classic Universal Monsters, by bringing them together in interconnected films inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The first film of this project was meant to be Dracula Untold, before the branding was retracted and it was released standalone.
The next “first chapter” was the 2017 Mummy, starring Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, and Sofia Boutella. This film was poorly received by audiences and critics alike, and inspired the cancellation of the entire Dark Universe project.
Read: How The Mummy Demastered eclipsed its source material
But in The Mummy: Dark Universe Stories, we can see the bones of Universal’s future plans.
This game was designed as a direct sequel to The Mummy (2017), that follows the events of the film. There are questions to be asked about why Universal would commission a video game sequel if it had faith The Mummy would continue as a film franchise in any fashion – but any conclusions about the matter would be pure speculation.
What’s important to know is that Dark Universe Stories is a continuation of the The Mummy that reveals the fate of Tom Cruise’s Nick Morton, and his undead companion, Chris Vail. The story follows this pair as they travel to various locations around the world, looking for a cure to Nick Morton’s particular ailment. At the end of The Mummy, he absorbed the spirit of Set, the Egyptian God of Death, and seemingly set off to wield this power for good.
Dark Universe Stories kicks off with Morton – now with a new likeness – searching for a cure to his condition. While the “bonding” depicted in the film was seemingly successful, Dark Universe Stories reveals Set is slowly killing Morton. He’s able to access Set’s powers, which include summoning creatures (spiders, snakes, scorpions) and bringing things back from the dead, but he’s getting sicker, and more desperate for a cure.
Across multiple chapters, Morton and Vail journey through various countries searching for this cure, meeting researchers of Ancient Egyptian culture, spiritualists, and other experts in the effort to get rid of Set.
According to the Dark Universe Wiki, there may have been up to 36 chapters of the game available across its short life span – but only the first 12 or so are preserved online, thanks to a YouTuber known as ALMAMARI. What’s left of the game in video form is incomplete, and it’s unclear if the available chapters are the only chapters that were ever published, or whether there were more available that simply weren’t preserved.
Whatever the case, the remaining chapters present a unique, well-told narrative. That’s no surprise, as Night School is a talented studio known for its narrative prowess. While not as dynamic as Night School’s future tales, it’s presents strong ideas for the wider Dark Universe.
Notably, the story depicted also seems to contradict the implied intentions of the Dark Universe – to establish a crew of monsters and monster-adjacent heroes to team up against some unspecified threat. Tom Cruise’s Nick Morton was positioned as a central character in this universe, and widely speculated to be the hero that would eventually bring together the Dark Universe’s monster crew.
Given the game is only preserved in incomplete fashion – with the only available footage ending on a cliffhanger suggesting Morton is on the way to death – we’ll never really know how Night School and Universal intended to use this game as a branch to future Dark Universe stories.
Regardless, it’s a fascinating game to analyse.
In discovering The Mummy: Dark Universe Stories existed, I found a passion for learning more. I contacted Night School with questions, as well as multiple contributors to the project. Unfortunately, my emails and Twitter / X messages went largely unanswered. One developer declined to comment, as they no longer worked at Night School. By all accounts, it seemed like nobody wanted to talk to me about the game – and that it had largely been disowned.
At some point, The Mummy: Dark Universe Stories was pulled offline, with its ambitions left unrealised. It’s unclear when this occurred, and how many chapters were released before the act, as information about the game is incredibly scarce. Without ALMAMARI’s six-year-old videos to reference, there would only be a few scant clues that Dark Universe Stories existed at all.
Watching the videos, it’s clear the game deserves better. While it’s based on a property that has become the butt of jokes since release, it boasts a strong narrative and writing that injects the story of The Mummy with the intrigue the film arguably lacks. Its puzzles seem basic, and its choices are linear, but with its choose-your-own-adventure approach, it also brims with cool possibilities. At face value, it’s unclear why the game was abandoned, and why seemingly nobody wants to talk about it.
Its existence also prompts further questions about the Dark Universe, and why a tie-in mobile game covered ground intended for a film sequel. Games like The Mummy Demastered trod a similar path, but expanded the story of The Mummy sideways, focusing on less important characters and side stories. So what was the intention of Dark Universe Stories?
Why does it tie in elements from other classic Universal Monsters tales, like The Mummy’s Hand? Why does it expand the lore of mysterious SHIELD-like organisation Prodigium? More important – why was this game erased from existence, with the closure of its live servers?
These are questions with a niche audience. I’m willing to accept I might be the only one who’s devoted such thought to Dark Universe Stories, and its significant to the Dark Universe. I’m also willing to accept I may never know or understand the reasons for the game’s creation.
At the very least, I want it to be remembered – as an example of how tie-in media can expand stories in complex ways, and perhaps as an example of the ambitions behind the Dark Universe, one of the biggest curiosities of modern cinema. As a forgotten chapter in this saga, Dark Universe Stories is a game with a strange and compelling legacy.
