Video game adaptations: still a success

On the occasion of the success of the Fallout series and the attraction of 1 million players to the Fallout game collection, we will review series and cinematic titles that have been faithful to the adapted games and have helped the games' sales grow.

Profitability in the video game industry is not limited only to the sale of consoles and hardware and game titles. Sometimes the content of these games is so rich that it finds its way into the cinema hall and seizes the box office. In recent years we have seen cinematic and series works that have been adapted from games. These films, besides their own acceptable sales, were able to act in the role of a successful marketer for the games.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which was released in the form of animation, by April 2023 had broken several box office records, including the highest-grossing film adapted from a video game and also the largest worldwide opening weekend and the first home video release of a film based on a video game. The sales of these works provide the potential to create long-term advertising for game companies. Just as "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and the series "The Last of Us" were able to raise the prestige of Nintendo and PlayStation consoles.

In the remainder of this note we will examine why special attention should be paid to films adapted from games.

Strong reception for the Fallout series while the video-game market has had a relative decline compared with last year

Unfortunately, for several years the state of the video-game market in the world has not been good, and the statistics report a decline in the profitability of games in 2024. For example, total game sales in the United Kingdom region have reached 2.23 million units. This figure has fallen 7 percent relative to last year. Following this, sales of game consoles in the United Kingdom relative to April 2023 have also been accompanied by a 39 percent drop. But amid these declines, sales of some relatively old games have been rising. Titles that, through the strong sales of films adapted from them, have attracted audiences.

It is more than 8 years that the game Fallout 4 has been on the market, and we have seen a sudden jump in its sales in recent weeks. Few titles can be found in game stores that were released in 2015 and have been received by fans in this way. To the point that this caused the game to be placed at the top of the table of the highest-selling games of April in the United Kingdom video-game market. Also the game Fallout 4  succeeded in leaving behind games such as EA Sports FC 24 and the popular multiplayer title Helldivers 2.

The noteworthy point is the presence of the game Fallout: New Vegas on the list of highest sellers. This game, which was released on the market in 2010, has entered the collection of popular games of 2024. Even though the game Fallout: New Veg belongs to the seventh generation of video games, we are seeing its extraordinary sales in the ninth generation of video games. But the effects of the success of the Fallout television series do not end here.

The game Fallout 76 was another game from Bethesda that entered the market in 2018 and was not received with much enthusiasm. The recent broadcast of the successful Fallout series and the wave of purchases of games in the Fallout collection caused this not-so-popular game too to be added to the list of highest sellers. So it is not so surprising that we are now seeing 3 games from the Fallout franchise among the highest-selling games of April in the United Kingdom market.

The most influential adaptations from video games and their importance in game sales

Before examining the most influential adaptations from video games, take a look at the list below, which concerns the 10 highest-grossing adapted works from video gaming through the end of 2023:

The presence of the titles "Detective Pikachu" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" on this list, with combined sales of 1,457,704,129 dollars, brought Nintendo a winning card. On the last trading days of 2023, the price of each Nintendo share on the global market reached its highest level. This company's highest share price had been in the Wii console era from 2007, and in this same connection this company has registered a new record.

SEGA's annual financial report in 2023 announced that sales of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise have surpassed the 1.66 billion-copy mark. An event that has had a doubled effect on the prestige of this prominent Japanese producer. To the point that SEGA decided over the next five years to invest up to 100 billion yen (equivalent to 882 million dollars at that time) in making its AAA games. The making of Sonic live-action films and their screening in cinemas was the start of a global marketing campaign for Sega to prepare audiences' minds for encountering its next brands.

Following the success of "Uncharted" and its 407 million dollars in sales, the Sony Pictures film group decided to make further investments in the making of titles adapted from its exclusive games. This decision by Sony led to the making of successful works such as "Gran Turismo" in 2023. Sony also intends to create a distinctive live-action of the game "Ghost of Tsushima" directed by Chad Stahelski.Perhaps "brand loyalty" is the common point of all the titles mentioned. Experts in global digital markets grasped the point of how far making films adapted from games helps the prestige of game companies and publishers. This current also causes game makers' boldness in making sequels to games to increase. This current was taken so seriously by game makers that Sega, with a purchase of 776 million dollars, added the maker of the game Angry Birds, namely Rovio Entertainment, to its subsidiaries.

The most important reasons for game sales and the success of films adapted from them

With a little more examination of games that have succeeded under the influence of the films adapted from them, interesting points are gathered about the complementary qualitative role in films and games.

Increasing awareness of games

The sales of these films can dramatically raise a viewer's level of awareness of a game among a broader audience. Many people may become familiar with games through watching live-action films and become interested in experiencing them interactively. The successful adaptation of the film "Sonic the Hedgehog," besides becoming the best superhero film of 2020 and competing with Marvel heroes, was able to revive the forgotten name of "Sega" once again.

Attracting new audiences

Some of these films have the potential to attract new audiences toward the game who may not have been familiar with it before. For example, the film "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series brought classic characters back to life for a new generation and caused an increase in sales of these games. Successful adaptations have also created a great deal of enthusiasm among game fans and encourage them to return to old games.

New and unpredictable content

The story element plays an important role in screenplays adapted from games. The directors of these films must exercise high creativity in creating the film's story and designing the scenes so that the resemblance of the film's space to the adapted game is minimized. The result of this process for some films has been highly effective. So much so that these works were able to introduce new content to the game world that did not exist in the original game. This new content has always been attractive to fans and prompts them to experience the game and, as a result, its sales.

Increasing prestige for games

The success of a film adapted from a game is a seal of approval on the quality of that game's making and also a factor in persuading people who do not attach much value to the game experience. Even so, it should be noted that adapted films do not always have a positive effect on game sales. Some films may be made poorly and, instead of attracting new audiences, disappoint fans from experiencing that game.

Greed for making more remakes following the success of series

The series "The Last of Us" was another of the most successful works adapted from video games. Its opening episode on the first night of broadcast had 4.7 million viewers in the United States, which included linear broadcast scheduling and streaming on the HBO Max service. This series, after House of the Dragon, had the second-largest debut since 2010 on HBO. After two days this figure rose to more than 10 million, after one week to 18 million, after 12 days to 22 million, and within two months to nearly 40 million. On average, each episode of this series had approximately 32 million viewers in the United States.

The successes of the series The Last of Us had coincided with the making of a remake of the first version of the original game under the title "The Last of Us Part I," which had been released on the market in those same years. Although the main content of the game had no change relative to the original 2013 version, the worldwide broadcast of this game's adapted series had prompted audiences toward buying it for 70 dollars. Video-game experts believed that this price for a remade game was not justified and would damage the game's well-known brand. With these interpretations, sales of the game continued, and two years later the second remake, titled "The Last of Us Part II," was also released on the market.

Conclusion

The power of broadcasting successful adapted series is such that it can revive the sales chance of an old and even weak game in the market. Titles that even in their own time were not received with much enthusiasm by players, and the appeal of their series has tempted new users to experience their games.

Perhaps these cases are a good reason to justify making more cinematic and series works that have been adapted from games. The Sony Pictures film group brought the cinematic film "Uncharted" to the cinema screen in 2022 and one year later the live-action "Gran Turismo." Both works are drawn from successful PlayStation console franchises, and in recent months more news has been arriving about the making of adapted series by Sony. In the end it appears that large game companies, through making adapted films, have discovered a new way to increase the annual profit of their products.

 

Author: Seyed Hadi Hadian