NBCUniversal and BBC — following their successful team-up on Peacock’s The Traitors — have co-commissioned Destination X, an adventure reality competition which since February has been a hit in Belgium.
Now in development to air Stateside on NBC proper, Destination X “crosses fantasy with reality” as 10 contestants embark on “the road trip of a lifetime, but have no idea of their location.”
Upon boarding the innovative Destination X bus, “reality is tweaked” to mislead the contestants (seemingly by VR headsets, as shown in a still from the Belgian version below). At the end of each episode — after information has been delivered with a number of clues designed to help the contestants decide if they can trust what they see — the player who places their “X” on a map furthest away from the bus’ actual location has to leave the game, and thus lose their shot at the cash prize.
‘Destination X’ in Belgium (Courtesy of Geronimo)
The other participants then search for the location of the host, who communicates with them from a secret command post using state-of-the-art drones and other smart technical devices. “Mind-blowing and spectacular gameplay will keep viewers engaged and playing along on all screens,” the official synopsis promises.
Destination X was created by Geronimo, and since launching in Belgium on broadcaster VTM, it has been consistently winning its Monday evening time slot with a 42% market share (in the 18-44 demo).
