Adapting Games for Film and TV: 5 Approaches

Videogame-originated IP will continue to increase in value as a category due to its cultural primacy, engaged audience, and rich storytelling. However, it’s worth noting that games are incredibly diverse in their subject matters, genres, characters, narrative substance, scale, and audience. Accordingly, there is no single winning approach when adapting games into other media. The "right" approach will depend on the specific IP, the parties involved, and their respective business and creative goals.

To that end, there are five general approaches that a film or TV studio can follow when adapting videogame IP for the screen. It should be noted that the decision as to which approach to take is never one for the film or TV studio to make entirely unilaterally. The games IP rightsholder must be involved in the decision (both in its own capacity as rightsholder, and as a proxy for the game’s community) - whether via an express approval right, or some form of “DNA” document that is mutually agreed as part of the deal, and provides guidelines as to key premises, themes, events, and plot elements. 

It should also be noted that while we can do our part with this at the deal stage, ultimately this completely transcends dealmaking and is a creative and strategic decision based on discussion, collaboration, deep thought, and mutual trust among rightsholder, studio and key creatives. The contractual provisions should be consistent with the understanding between the parties - which is not to say that rightsholders should be satisfied with a noncontractual "just trust us," but rather that the parties should have a clear and aligned vision at the start of the relationship, and that should be reflected in the deal. If a party feels that it has to enforce a contractual provision around this stuff, there wasn’t an aligned vision at the outset and the process has failed. 

Here are the five approaches. Most adaptations will fall into one of these:

1. Verbatim Retelling. A straight retelling of the game’s story, with no major changes or additions. Most suitable when the original story is extremely linear, relatively simple, and suitably engaging for a general audience. 
2. “The Last of Us” Approach. A largely faithful adaptation of the original story, with some modifications to embellish the story, provide character depth (see episode 3 of HBO's "The Last of Us") and/or make it more suitable for a linear audience. A great way to familiarize a general audience with the core story - while added nuggets of additional lore and easter eggs for existing fans. This is probably the best approach for games with existing strong narratives when the adaptation is aimed at general audiences - existing fans get to see their beloved story play out on screen while deepening their understanding of characters, lore and backstory, while new viewers get to appreciate the strong story of the original. If you can successfully get the linear audience up to speed with the characters and core story while still engaging the core fans, you have a strong foundation for future success.
3. The “Super Mario Bros.” Approach. An original story that nonetheless hits key beats and thematic elements, and is wholly consistent with the brand and characters despite not being pulled from any single game. A good approach for game IP without a strong fleshed out story - or too much story to be condensed into one definitive narrative. Lots of leeway for writers to dictate plot beats, set pieces, and events - but not to contradict core brand elements, established lore, or existing character relationships. The audience should leave feeling that the production authentically reflected the property and characters that they love - even if the actual narrative was a fresh take.
4. The “Transmedia” Approach. A movie or series that is not an adaptation of any single game, but is instead intended to be additive to the original story and mythology, work in lockstep with the games, and create reference points between linear and games in an intertextual manner. Examples would include a series that is a prequel to a game in the series, or a movie that follows the adventures of a secondary character from the game and tells another story within the fictional world. “Arcane” and “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” may be the most successful examples to date. By far the most challenging form of film/tv extension, because it must stand on its own merits, be consistent with the games, and not confuse either existing fans or new audiences. It's doubly tricky given the different production processes and timelines of games and movies, and is utterly impossible to accomplish without heavy involvement from the original games creative team and a high level of coordination and communication. That may require the games developer to let the audiovisual producers "behind the veil" and share plans about future games - which can be uncomfortable for the usually very secretive games business. The "transmedia" approach also increases the likelihood of having tricky deal issues for us to solve - including those relating to ownership and use of "new elements," coordination of potential merchandising programs, and potential cross-accounting of revenue streams. In short: all of the things that make my life interesting! The "transmedia" approach is extremely ambitious and is probably not the right approach for a games rightsholder that doesn't want to be heavily involved - or the first movie/series for a games brand. However, we are bound to see some interesting examples in the future. 
5. The “Welcome to Hollywood, Kid” Approach. Under this approach, the producer never plays the games, insists they know best, and refuses to involve the original creators or acknowledge the community. This approach involves making a lot of arbitrary and contradictory changes, hiring writers with a distain for the source material, and accommodating whims of talent over the source material. A great alternative option for studios and producers selecting this approach is to drive to the desert, dig a big hole, put $100m in it, and set it alight.