From The Witcher TV show to the Sonic The Hedgehog movie and somewhat troubled Uncharted flick, there are plenty of big and small screen titles set in, inspired by, or linked to videogames on the horizon. Most recently, Netflix announced a Beyond Good and Evil “feature film” was on the way to its streaming service – and it seems it doesn’t stop there. In fact, videogames account for 7.59% of the platform’s upcoming TV adaptations.
Data and analytics firm Ampere Analysis has posted an ‘Insights’ article on how Netflix is continuing “gaming exploration”, which includes a couple of pie charts breaking down the “types of adaptations for upcoming Netflix titles”. Alongside the other categories that make up the total figure which you’d expect to see, like books, comics, and other movies, is games coming in at just under 7.6%.
For movie adaptations, it’s not far behind – games sit at 5.45% of upcoming film adaptations, right behind books, stage shows, and comics, which make up the lion’s share. While it’s naturally far from the respective 63.29% and 69.09% of book-based adaptations coming up on Netflix, that’s still a pretty staggering share of the pie.
Netflix “has continued to expand its investment in gaming IP,” Ampere says, “with other well-known gaming franchises, such as Resident Evil and Splinter Cell, having upcoming TV series with Netflix. Videogame IP has potential for streaming services, with fresh storylines and existing fan bases helping to draw in viewership and new subscribers, with games being the third and fourth largest categories for upcoming Netflix adaptations for TV and film, respectively”.
Netflix continues gaming exploration: Netflix is investing in making video games into shows, and making shows more like video games. Read @areidgames latest insight here: https://t.co/3MW2aOEcRp pic.twitter.com/59dPlWYVMk
— Ampere Analysis (@AmpereAnalysis) August 12, 2020
Early last year it was reported that Netflix had a Resident Evil adaption on the way, which was followed in February 2020 by a series description that popped up on the service’s site. Just last month Netflix and Ubisoft announced the upcoming Splinter Cell series, which will have John Wick writer Derek Kolstad on-board as a writer and executive producer.
Alongside the Beyond Good and Evil, there’s already plenty on the horizon inspired by some of the biggest and best PC games series around. Whether we’ll see that percentage continue to rise next year and beyond, though, remains to be seen.