Stranger Things Co-Creator Reveals the Video Game That Shaped the Final Battle

Stranger Things went out swinging. The two-hour series finale, 'The Rightside Up,' delivered a giant smackdown in the Abyss against the Mind Flayer and Vecna that actually felt like the show we fell in love with back in season one. Big, loud, emotional, and yes, it brought people together in that rare way where everyone is watching the same thing at the same time. The twist behind how they built that last fight? They looked to a very 2020s place for inspiration: a video game.

The video game blueprint: Baldur's Gate 3

Matt and Ross Duffer say the final battle was shaped by the co-op vibe of Baldur's Gate 3. Matt told Variety he was playing the game while they were figuring out the ending, and the structure clicked: this is a D&D party, not a lone hero story. That idea became the spine of the finale: every character had to bring their specific skill set and actually work together, not just show up for a montage.

"We felt it was very important that the only way for them to defeat it was for the entire party to work together."

- Matt Duffer, to Variety

You can see the design on screen. Before the last push in the Abyss, each hero resolves the personal baggage that has been tripping them up, then the team syncs up like a well-built BG3 squad. Roles matter, timing matters, and no one gets to be a spectator. Matt even said they sprinkled in plenty of video game nods across the sequence, which tracks once you notice the choreography.

D&D was not supposed to be this central… until it was

Fun wrinkle: according to Matt on Collider, D&D was never meant to carry this much weight in the show. It started as the kids' after-school hobby and a handy storytelling reference. Over time it grew into the mythology itself, to the point where the finale is literally paying off a campaign that began at that basement table. Ross, for his part, joked that his own D&D knowledge is not exactly expert level, which is pretty funny given how deeply the show swam in that pool.

So the end result is a mash-up that makes sense: the fellowship energy of friends around a game table, fused with the modern co-op design of Baldur's Gate 3. That combo is why the showdown with the Mind Flayer and Vecna feels both huge and weirdly intimate. It is mechanics and heart, not just spectacle.

If you were wondering why the finale felt so coordinated, now you know. It was a party check, not a solo roll, and everyone passed.