Gaming can be a transformative experience for some players, and this is especially true for Mats Steen. He was a young Norwegian man who suffered from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that ultimately claimed his life at the age of just 25. Steen’s disease may have kept him from living a normal life, but Netflix’s new documentary The Extraordinary Life of Ibelin shows how he carved a niche for himself in World of Warcraft.
“The Extraordinary Life of Ibelin” won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, and it’s easy to see why. Although Steen passed away in 2014, he left behind many friends he made while playing Warcraft. In the game, his character Ibelin is free to do almost everything that Steen cannot. It gave him an outlet that kept him from being isolated from the rest of the world.
Activision Blizzard lent its World of Warcraft assets to the film to give the animators a chance to recreate some of Steen’s interactions with other players through his Ibelin character. This included a kiss to Ibelin, which meant the world to Steen, who had no such interactions with women outside of the game.
Filmmaker Benjamin Ree compiled “The Extraordinary Life of Ibelin” based on footage recorded by Steen’s family, as well as interviews with friends and other players he met through “Warcraft.” Through them, the legend of Ibelin and the story of Mats Steen will continue to live on.
Netflix will premiere “The Extraordinary Life of Ibelin” on October 25th.
