Every Video Game Adaptation Coming Soon to Netflix
Video game to movie IP hasn’t always had the best of reputations. In recent years, however, things have begun to change thanks in large part to streaming services.
Netflix isn’t the only streamer getting in on video game IP.
Amazon Prime has been busy picking up video game licenses including most recently announcing that it would be the streaming service to create a TV series around Bethesda’s Fallout series.
HBO also made a big stride last year with the announcement that The Last of Us would be getting the TV treatment.
But Netflix isn’t standing still in the space and has already produced and acquired a number of video game projects thus far including:
- Castlevania (confirmed for a future spin-off)
- Dragon’s Dogma
- Minecraft: Story Mode
- Skylanders: Academy
- The Witcher (originally a book but popularized by the video game franchise)
- Dragon Quest: Your Story
- Pokemon series & movies (with more to come)
- DOTA: Dragon’s Blood (renewed for season 2)
- Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness
- Arcane (renewed for season 2)
But let’s now take a look into the future and see what video game adaptation projects Netflix currently has in the works:
Angry Birds: Summer Madness
Type: Animated TV series
Angry Birds: Summer Madness was announced in March 2020 and has been in development ever since by Cake and Rovio Entertainment. The series is said to take a cue from the Angry Birds movie franchise while revealing a fresh new look. Here is the official logline for the new series:
Created for television by long-time Supernatural producer Andrew Dabb, Resident Evil is an upcoming live-action series based on the Capcom franchise of the same name. Similar to the film series helmed by Paul W. S. Anderson starring Milla Jovovich, Netflix’s Resident Evil doesn’t appear to be based on any one game of Capcom’s long franchise, but will rather have its own story and interpret the world and the characters in its own way.
According to the official synopsis, Resident Evil will take place in two timelines. The first will revolve around Jade and Billie Wesker, the two teenage daughters of the most iconic Resident Evil villain, Albert Wesker. They will find themselves in a manufactured corporate town and will begin questioning their surroundings and their own father. The second timeline will see Jade fifteen years later, when the entire planet is overrun by zombies. Jade, now thirty, struggles to survive in this New World, while the secrets from her past, about her sister, her father, and herself continue to haunt her.
A live-action adaptation based on the acclaimed Assassin’s Creed franchise has been announced in October 2020 as part of Ubisoft’s overall deal with Netflix. Extremely little is known about the project, except that Ubisoft Film’s Jason Altman and Danielle Kreinik will serve as executive producers for the project. The series seems to be very early in the development process and it may take a while before we hear anything substantial about it. It’s also worth noting that as per the deal with Ubisoft, this series will be only the first of many Assassin’s Creed projects at Netflix.
CD Projekt Red’s highly-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 has been in development since 2012 and will finally release in November 2020 launching a new franchise similar to CDPR’s The Witcher. The Witcher game creator teamed up with Dark Horse Comics for comic-book adaptations of Cyberpunk and with Netflix for an animated series. The newly announced Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a 10-episode limited animated series and will be developed by Studio Trigger (Live Witch Academia, Promare).
Other Rumored Video Game Projects
- A Zelda series was in development at Netflix once upon a time but Nintendo reportedly killed the project.
- A God of War series based on the franchise of the same name is rumored to be in development at Netflix.
- Bioshock is among the hotly rumored video game IP to be coming to Netflix. More when we learn more.
- Devil May Cry – An animated series based on the popular fantasy franchise of the same name by Capcom has been announced in 2018, but sadly news about Netflix’s Devil May Cry has been scarce ever since. Castlevania series creator Adi Shankar is set to develop Devil May Cry as well. In an interview with IGN, Shankar said that Devil May Cry “will join Castlevania in what we’re now calling the bootleg multiverse”.
- A Final Fantasy series used to be listed here but upon further research, Netflix’s involvement is not confirmed for any Final Fantasy XIV TV project from Sony and Hivemind.
- As well as the adaptations for Splinter Cell and Cyberpunk listed above, there have been reports there could be live-action adaptations for them too.
That’s all we have right now. Have we missed any upcoming Netflix adaptations? Let us know in the comments down below.
