Why video games are popping up in the box office
What made video game movies and TV shows suddenly start being good?
Hello,
Welcome to the fourth edition of The Power Up. When I was a kid, I feel as if every movie that came out had a promotional game attached to it. The games usually weren’t good. They were just a cheap box for their marketing teams to check off.
Now it seems that games are starting to outcompete Hollywood in its own medium. We’re going to explore why that’s happening.
Why games are getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Games have been trying to establish a foothold in Hollywood for the past 30 years. There were a lot of duds along the way, but it looks like they’re finally starting to do it. Sonic the Hedgehog brought in over 300 million dollars, beating the likes of DC Comics’ Birds of Prey, and The Witcher Netflix series had the streaming platform’s biggest opening week ever.
The question though is why now? I think it’s a combination of a few things. First, the internet fueling the rise of “geek” culture has helped games become a valid movie option for Hollywood execs. Growing up I was afraid to talk about my love for Sonic the Hedgehog in person, but online message boards used to be my space to learn and nerd out about him. I’m sure my data was in some presentation Jeff Fowler used when he was building a rationale to make a movie about our blue-furred speedster. It’s also not hard to see how something like Game of Thrones mainstream success would make someone think that the Witcher, a medieval game about a monster hunter for hire, would also do well.
Second, it just needed time. There had to be some trial and error to get adaptations right, and gaming’s popularity had to grow a bit more. It’s hard to adapt a 75-hour game into a two-hour film. Just like it took time to find the right way to adapt a comic book to a movie. Does anyone remember the Incredible Hulk movie? It was the second movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It did not do well.
Additionally, a lot of the people who have grown up playing games are old enough to be decision makers behind these films now. That means that they have the will to push for video game IPs and the understanding to do the IPs justice when adapting them to film.
Lastly, I think the content wars have made video game IPs a big target for streaming companies. As they try to one-up each other for new shows and movies, gaming IPs is an interesting route for them to take. There are thousands of characters to choose from, a lot of the stories are unique, and billions of people are familiar with them.
It’ll be interesting to see if this wave of popularity keeps growing. I think it will. Some of the big projects we're getting in the next couple of years are a Last of Us series by HBO, a League of Legends anime, a Halo TV series, and a Monster Hunter movie. If even half of these succeed we are going to see a lot more video game adaptions in Hollywood.
Your brand should see the value in gaming for the same reason Hollywood does. The games that people grew up with are just as important as the books, movies, and music they grew up with. Now brands don’t need to be buying video game IPs to pay homage. It can be as simple as using an art style, sound, or story arc from a popular game to get someone to pay attention to your brand.
What to take away
Gaming is finally taking off in film and TV due to a combination of three things.
The internet fueling geek culture helped gaming enter the mainstream.
Time has allowed studios to get the video game to television formula right. Things like the Mortal Kombat movie had to crawl so The Sonic the Hedgehog Movie could run.
In an environment where streaming companies are expected to keep churning out content, game IPs are fertile ground for adaptation.
Brands should be thinking about how video games can help them become more salient in peoples’ minds for these same reasons.
Gaming news that caught my eye
Venture Beat: #PlayApartTogether is an initiative by the WHO and game companies to promote social distancing. Partner companies are offering free games, promotional events, and items in order to keep their players inside. Over 40 companies have joined.
Reddit: Final Fantasy XIV players organized a memorial March for a community member who lost their battle to COVID-19. It’s a great show of humanity through these trying times.
EsportsObserver: BMW just signed a deal with five major esports organizations. What’s interesting is that these organizations usually compete with each other, and BMW is going to leverage those rivalries to create content.
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