Image credit: Epic Games / Sony / Amazon MGM Studios
HBO’s The Last of Us provided a solid framework for translating a beloved game franchise to the screen. Since then, many other IPs have followed suit; amongst them, the upcoming God of War TV show has me the most interested.
After hearing only a few whispers about its production, the studio has finally released the first look at the show in a teaser image. Here are five more shows that desperately need to get the prime-time treatment.
Gears of War
The recent teaser image for God of War sparked much discussion among fans, with the director of the first game, David Jaffe, airing his grievances (a rite of passage for any new entry in this franchise, it seems).
Following this fan debate, let’s start with a franchise that has not only been confirmed for a series adaptation but also a movie. The Gears of War franchise is coming out with an adult animated series and a live-action film, both produced by Netflix and the development team behind the games, The Coalition.
While this is exciting, as one can imagine the set pieces and scenes that could be translated, I am pensively excited for this. Despite being announced in 2022, we have not received many updates beyond the fact that Jon Spaihts (writer of 2012’s Prometheus) will be the screenwriter and David Leitch (director of Bullet Train) will direct.
However, with the next game in the series supposedly coming this year, we could expect to see some news in line with its release.
The Elder Scrolls
We already have precedent with Bethesda franchises translating well to the screen, as seen with the Fallout TV show, so it wouldn’t be a leap to suggest that their other flagship franchise gets its shot. In an interview with IGN, Todd Howard stated that he “can’t rule in or rule out” an Elder Scrolls adaptation, which isn’t particularly hopeful.
Something worth considering is when and where in the Elder Scrolls universe a series would be set. Fallout fans had a similar question when the show was originally announced, and the production team settled on the series taking place after the events of all the games.
Perhaps the Elder Scrolls series could follow suit and expand the established universe, but with so much source material, it could easily be set within the story of one of the games.
Infamous
Given modern VFX technology and the ever-present “superhero genre,” I am shocked that video games where you take control of a superpowered character have not been adapted. And as much as I’d love to see a Prototype series, I don’t think that would get the green light.
That takes us to Infamous, a series that has been snubbed from the limelight for over a decade now, with no games being released since 2014. While superhero fatigue has certainly struck many, Infamous was always subversive, so perhaps a series could not only breathe life back into the franchise but the genre as a whole.
Metal Gear Solid (or any Kojima IP)
While I do think a Metal Gear production could work, I mostly included this game because I want to see Hideo Kojima direct a show. This thought mostly stemmed from considering the lengths of the cutscenes in this series, with MGS4 holding the record for the longest cutscene sequence in a video game.
With these longer cutscenes in mind, the switch to a series is not far-fetched. The only issue I see with an adaptation is the portrayal of the protagonist (whichever one in the series that may be). Hence, why I am not too bothered about this specific franchise getting translated, more than its creator branches out into new forms of art.
Dead Space
A genre that has been somewhat ignored by studios making game tie-in shows is horror. We had Until Dawn in 2025 (a movie…), but otherwise, entries have been few and far between. Dead Space, with its complex, terrifying world, would be a perfect setting for a show.
The sci-fi horror environment would undoubtedly offer great opportunities for eerie sequences, leaving those unfamiliar with the series constantly questioning the storyline.
Mostly, though, I want to see more people interested in Dead Space. Since the first game was remade in 2023, fans, myself included, have been clamouring for more, which, unfortunately, does not look likely. Perhaps a show would do well to fill the hole while we wait for more.
FAQs
There is no release date for the series announced at the time of writing. It was stated, though, that the series has entered production. With the timeline of other shows from Amazon being fairly short, fans of the series shouldn’t have to wait long for more updates.
Kratos will be played by Ryan Hurst, someone whom fans of the games should be familiar with, as he (ironically) is the voice of Thor in God of War: Ragnarok. Meaning now Thor is being played by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson in the show.
While no release date has been stated for either of Netflix’s Gears of War projects, we may hear some news on these titles as we get closer to the release of the next game in the series, Gears of War: E-Day.
There is currently no concrete confirmation of an Elder Scrolls series, but with the success of their Fallout show, Bethesda representatives have stated that they aren’t ruling it out.
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