Serial adaptations of console hits like “Resident Evil” and “The Last of Us” signal a 2023 renaissance for video game IP.
And we also found a lot of anticipation for TV video game adaptations: 83% of respondents said they were very interested or interested in TV adaptations of video game-related content.
So why all this anticipation about TV video game adaptations now?
Studios have long been interested in tapping into video game franchises’ built-in fanbase to sell box office tickets, especially during the summer when school is out. But movies have been more focused on leveraging intellectual property and less on quality, until recent years. That’s something that I, and many other longtime gamers, have been waiting a long time to see.
Fortunately, a number of major releases in 2022, including hits like “Halo” on Paramount+, have highlighted just how valuable quality IP based on video games can be. And there are good reasons to believe that 2023 will be the best year for this type of content.
This makes sense, considering that video games continue to grow in popularity. According to research firm NPD, US game sales reached a record $56.9 billion in 2020 and then eclipsed it with $60.4 billion in 2021. AAA franchises like “League of Legends” , “Fortnite”, “Halo”, “God of War” “Assassin’s Creed” and many, many others are ideal for studios and streamers looking for high-impact IP due to their expansive worlds and rabid fanbases.
Recent hits like “The Witcher,” “Castlevania” and “Arcane” demonstrate just how serious Netflix is about space (with many more adaptations on the way). And there will be an explosion of gaming-related content throughout 2023, as studios and platforms spend more resources developing game-based franchises to compete in streaming wars.
So which game-based TV series could be the next big hit?
We track the demand for a show as TV Time users add these series to their own personal watchlists, which we call “Viewing Intent.” When we see strong interest in content that hasn’t been published yet, we refer to that specific type of intent as “Anticipation.”
HBO Max recently announced that its adaptation of the multi-award winning Playstation game “The Last of Us,” starring Pedro Pascal, will arrive soon. And believe it or not, the post-apocalyptic TV series set to air on HBO is following a similar stride to the Disney+ “Star Wars” title “Obi-Wan Kenobi” six months before its release. Given that only a couple of “The Last of Us” production stills have been released to date, that’s impressive. To put it into a larger perspective, more people intend to watch “The Last of Us” today than intended to watch “Halo” a month before. its release, or “Peacemaker” a week before it came out on HBO Max.
There are dozens of other high-profile game adaptations in the works on many streaming platforms, including “Fallout” on Amazon Prime Video along with the rumored “Mass Effect” and “God of War Series.
Meanwhile, Netflix has announced “Assassin’s Creed”, “The Witcher” Season 3, “The Witcher: Blood Origin”, “Horizon Zero Dawn”, “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners”, “Splinter Cell”, “Tomb Raider” and “Sonic Prime”, among others.
Peacock is throwing his hat in the ring with “Twisted Metal” starring Anthony Mackie, while Paramount+ is developing a “Sonic” Knuckles spin-off. And don’t forget Lionsgate’s upcoming “Borderlands,” directed by Eli Roth. EITHER…
Well, let’s stop there for now. Suffice to say, we’re watching this space closely, and if you haven’t already, then you probably should get started.
And if you’re a gamer looking for more ways to interact with the worlds you love outside of gaming, the future looks really bright.
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Vince Muscarella is Vice President of Sales for Whip Media, a provider of audience data and business software to major studios, networks and platforms. After running digital distribution for a leading independent distributor before switching to help measure the film and television space for Comscore, muscarella now he combines his knowledge of content distribution and media measurement (and gaming and fantasy baseball) to bring unique insights to Whip Media’s solutions and clients.
