In April of 2024, Amazon’s Fallout sat atop the streaming platform throne, bringing fresh awareness to the possibilities video game franchises bring to the table. In terms of just Amazon, the success of the Fallout series is record-shattering.
For all of Amazon’s endeavors to get a grip on the fantastical fiction of books and gaming arenas, Fallout finally hit the mark. Wheel of Time and Rings of Power are treading water despite critical success.
While those shows could learn something about built-in fanbases and adherence to the source material (as well as the show don’t tell method), Fallout chose the less-trodden path.
It may sound barbaric (sarcasm), but imagine taking something fans have loved for decades, incorporating a new storyline, and sticking to the feel and authenticity of the source material. The result? Fantastic levels of success. Shocking, right?
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The powers that be at Amazon are no fools. In their eyes, success will beget success. Amazon is scooping up some major video game franchises in an effort to capitalize on the mediocrity and deficiency of rival platforms, along with correcting their own mistakes.
The Video Game Franchises In Amazon’s Bag of Tricks
In many ways, video game adaptations are a lot like books. There are huge fanbases behind them, some for far longer than a non-gamer might expect.
The translation from game to video format is a little easier, thanks to similarities in structure, direction, and special effects.
Amazon picked up some big ones with long and storied histories and correspondingly huge followings. If Fallout is the blueprint moving forward, these franchises are in good hands.
Tomb Raider
For a while, Tomb Raider bandied back and forth, with the TV adaptation often falling under Netflix rather than Amazon.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with her experience as a director, writer, and executive producer from Fleabag and Killing Eve, will helm the adaptation.
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There may be some level of trepidation behind her choosing, as many blame her for single-handedly wiping out the latest Indiana Jones movie. Taking on a morally ambiguous role next to Indy didn’t sell well. However, acting and directing are two different things.
Killing Eve and Fleabag were both highly acclaimed shows, especially the latter. If she brings the same level of proficiency to Tomb Raider, the show will likely do well.
Warhammer 40,000
In December of 2022, Amazon acquired global rights to the Warhammer 40k universe, and two rather phenomenal things occurred not long after. First, Netflix and Henry Cavill parted ways, leaving the Witcher role in Liam Hemsworth’s hands.
Second, Amazon handed over one of the biggest video game and tabletop franchises to him, reportedly with all the creative freedom he wants. If there is one actor or actress from Tinseltown who will honor the source material, it’s Henry Cavill.
He will star in and executive produce the series. He’s also a well-known gamer with immense respect and love for the source material. Such experience is necessary because Warhammer is epic in terms of scale and lore.
God of War
Sony’s mega-franchise God of War is heading to Amazon as well. The upcoming series will focus on the 2018 game release. Of all the video game franchises in the works, God of War is the only one that probably has no grey area.
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It’s sink or swim, with an immense fanbase that isn’t likely to tolerate wholesale, unnecessary lore changes, and characters that hardly resemble their video game counterparts.
Wheel of Time’s Rafe Judkins is in the driver’s seat, which is concerning considering Wheel of Time is still struggling to find its footing.
However, the writers penning the script have plenty of solid work and experience under their belts. Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby are the scriptwriters behind Iron Man, Children of Men, and The Expanse.
Like a Dragon
Yakuza is one of the more successful video game franchises over the long term, with the series selling well over 20 million units since 2005. Amazon has two things working for it with Like a Dragon: The huge popularity and appeal of the franchise and the recent success of Shogun.
Shogun proves there is a marked interest in Japanese culture, and Like a Dragon brings more of that to the forefront. It’s a bit different from the fantasy and sci-fi elements of the above entries, focusing instead on crime, drama, and suspense.
Masaharu Take is in the director’s chair, and Ryoma Takeuchi is the primary character. Unlike God of War, Tomb Raider, and Warhammer, Like a Dragon has a release date of October 24.
Disco Elysium
This will be an interesting one. The game is an isometric tactical RPG without the fighting prevalent in games like Rogue Trader, Baldur’s Gate 3, and the Divinity series. Instead, you’re a detective in a fictional city ravaged by a recent revolution.
It’s an Indie hit and a cult favorite. How Amazon will translate a game of unique level progression and choices into a TV series is a fascinating thought experiment. In games like these, you can take things in a hundred different directions.
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It opens up a wide door for creative showrunners to play with, especially within an engrossing visual setting of historical fantasy.
Video Game Adaptations are Amazon’s MCU
To be fair, Amazon isn’t the only one latching onto multiple video game franchises. Netflix is adapting Bioshock, Horizon Zero Dawn, Assassin’s Creed, and Gears of War. That’s not including Arcane and Castlevania.
But Amazon isn’t stopping with just the above list. Life is Strange, and It Takes Two are also somewhere in the development stage.
The world went through a two-decade-long fascination with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there is a fundamental difference between the MCU and game adaptations.
While consumers grow tired of exorbitant leotards and skin-tight outfits, video game adaptations offer wholly contained spheres.
One of the things that negatively impacts comic book stories is the sheer volume of it, the characters, the storylines, and the intersections.
On the other hand, Kratos’ Nordic universe and its characters limit God of War to a well-built and simpler world. If the story gets wild and out of hand, it’s because the showrunners are taking it in the wrong direction.
Couple this reduction in complexity with stories that are highly popular, and you’re cooking with gas.
Will the Fallout Formula Lead the Way?
This is the key. The biggest complaint (and it’s not even close) about major franchises today is the showrunner’s ability to turn it into a personal project, limiting the scope of the characters to reflections of the writer’s persona.
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The fans of video game franchises like Warhammer, Fallout, God of War, and so many others want to see the games they fell in love with, not the Hollywood version of famous skins draped over interlopers.
Fallout manages to satisfy fans without even bothering with well-known and well-loved characters. This is because the world is a character in its own right.
The bleached, irradiated terrain, a hodgepodge of dilapidated dwellings, and the desperate lives of those that people these worlds are a match for their video game counterparts.
Within such a sandbox, Amazon is free to create new characters and story arcs so long as they obey the rules of the original. Fallout’s success is due to this simple formula.
If Amazon can mimic it throughout the various acquired franchises, the level of success will be unrivaled.
Expect Even More
Last but not least is the unknown horizon. There is a sense of inevitability when it comes to major video game franchises, much like the MCU movies that led up to The Avengers.
It’s not just the fact that Amazon is making these acquisitions, either. Amazon’s competition is doing the same thing, with Netflix, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ either with skin in the game already or working their way to it.
Hopefully, competition will breed quality, but it will certainly breed volume. Expect more and more game franchises to join the fray sooner rather than later.
The epic scope of the Divinity series or Baldurs Gate 3, the vast, surreal, and utterly dangerous world of Elden Ring, the planet-conquering politics of Helldivers, and the dark sci-fi of Metroid are too tantalizing to ignore.
It’s only a matter of time before things get really real and, hopefully, a lot of fun as well.
What video game franchises do you think are perfect for Amazon Prime? Let us know in the comments!