Acclaimed documentary on quadriplegic World of Warcraft player joins Netflix next month

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.

Image credit: Netflix

Sundance audience award-winning documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin – which tells the story of quadriplegic World of Warcraft player Mats Steen – is set to debut on Netflix next month.

Norwegian gamer Steen battled the degenerative disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and passed away in 2014 aged 25. However, during his 25 years, he touched many lives via his World of Warcraft avatar, Ibelin.

“Unbeknownst to his relatives, Steen was able to form deep friendships across vast distances, because of his passion and pastime,” reads a Netflix feature on the documentary.

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Official Trailer | Netflix

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin | Official Trailer | Netflix. Watch on YouTube

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin has been brought together by filmmaker Benjamin Ree, and features interviews with Steen’s friends and family.

In addition to using archival footage, Ree also worked with animators on the documentary. These animators “used models lifted directly from the game to show viewers exactly what [Steen] would have seen as he played the game between 2004 and 2014”.

When Ree finished creating The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, the filmmaker asked World of Warcraft developer Blizzard would consider waiving its intellectual property rights so the film could find a release. After watching the documentary themselves, and hearing Ree had “no plan B”, the company’s executives acquiesced.

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin will be available to stream via Netflix from 25th October. You can check out a trailer for the upcoming documentary above.

“It’s a huge honour that Ibelin will now be on Netflix,” Ree said. “Mats Steen’s story will be available to so many millions of people across the world.

“I couldn’t be more excited.”