When Matt Reeves‘ Cloverfield was released in 2008, it came with a viral marking buildup that engulfed those interested in the films. It was one of the first big ARGs (Augmented Reality Games). And it looks like Dan Trachtenberg‘s 10 Cloverfield Lane will have an ARG/viral marketing campaign, and it appears that the story will continue.

The game spanned a bunch of different website, involved Slusho a Japanese drink that was spotted on a t-shirt in that initial Cloverfield teaser trailer. A drilling company named Tagruato (who has since appeared as an easter egg in other JJ Abrams films like Star Trek) had developed the popular Japanese drink using a mysterious ingredient called “seabed’s nectar”.

An environmental group called “TIDO Wave” was trying to stop Tagruato from drilling just as they opened the Chaui Station, somewhere close to New York City. A Tagruato whistleblower spy confirmed there was no oil on Chaui Station and that they were keeping a dark secret there.

TIDO Wave tried to find the station but were too late, it had been destroyed just days earlier. Tagruato, trying to cover up what really happened, claimed that a terrorist group named TIDO Wave were responsible.

We experienced a lot of this through the eyes of two protagonists, Teddy Hanssen and his girlfriend Jamie, who was a member of TIDO Wave. The last video she filed was from the night of the attack on New York, right before Rob’s goodbye party. Where was Rob going? He was leaving to start a job working for the Slusho company in Japan.

Okay so thats the backstory and here were we are now.

A New E-Mail Is Sent From Tagruato

None of the Cloverfield ARG websites have been updated in the last eight years, but last night some people who participated in the original viral or those who e-mailed Tagruato recently began getting a response from Tagruato:

From: 18kagashimad@tagruato.jp

Hello,

Due to new security protocols, this account is no longer active. All correspondence is monitored and will be responded to appropriately.

Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,

Vanessa Gwon

Director of Public Relations

*Employee of the Month: 2016 January

Now you might think the above e-mail is just a generic auto-responder, but the line under the Vanessa Gwon’s title is in bright orange for a reason: to point out this this is a new correspondence created in the year 2016.

So far no clues have been uncovered from this email (the Tagruato address is old, the name Vanessa Gwon doesn’t appear in any search engines…etc).

Meanwhile, the Swamp Pop soda drink that is spotted in the initial 10 Cloverfield Lane teaser trailer has led people to a new puzzle, but is it related to the film? Find out, after the jump.