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Netflix's Stranger Things is officially coming to Fortnite... somehow

At an E3 panel, Netflix confirms its partnership with Fortnite won't stop with the cameo that showed up in the game's Season 9.

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Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
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Joan E. Solsman
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Stranger Things' third season premieres on July 4. 

 Netflix

Netflix's Stranger Things will be coming to Fortnite in some manner later this year. Eagle-eyed fans may have already noticed an Easter egg in Fortnite a few weeks ago, which showed the Scoops Ahoy ice cream shop where Stranger Things character Steve Harrington works in the coming third season. 

"There's a bit more behind that in a few weeks," Chris Lee, director of interactive games at Netflix, said at a panel at the E3 gaming conference Wednesday, confirming there would be more Stranger Things to come to Fortnite, without specifying any further. The third season of the retro sci-fi TV series will premiere on July 4. 

In addition to Fortnite, Netflix is extending characters and worlds of its original productions into existing games from other partners like Roblox, Ubisoft and Behaviour Interactive later this year.

Also at E3 Wednesday, Netflix announced that a new Stranger Things mobile game is planned for release next year. 

Netflix and video games have cross-pollinated before. On its own service, Netflix introduced an interactive video format in 2017 that gives viewers "choose your own adventure" A-or-B story options, such as its programs Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and survival reality show You vs. Wild. 

And the company has partnered with dedicated gaming companies too: Telltale Games brought an interactive Minecraft: Story Mode series to to Netflix in November, and indie game developer BonusXP released one Stranger Things game in 2017 and another is planned this year tied to season three. 

The E3 conference earlier unveiled a Nintendo Switch game based on Dark Crystal, a prequel series Netflix is releasing this summer. 

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Watch this: Stranger Things season 3: Everything to know