Gaming continues its transmedia expansion

This article was published in the PocketGamer.biz newsletter. Sign up for more articles like this straight to your inbox right here.

The games industry, like the wider tech sector, is very much open to buzzwords and fads.

The metaverse, blockchain, games-as-a-service, NFTs, AI. The space, which often operates on the edge of tech, is strewn with hits and misses.

One of the big trends of the past few years is transmedia, as a swathe of gaming IPs have been optioned for film and TV.

During just the past week, the latest announcements in the transmedia realm are the Activision and Paramount partnership for a Call of Duty film, and a new Tomb Raider series in the works. Meanwhile, Nintendo has rebranded its Warpstar subsidiary to Nintendo Stars to bolster its movie projects.

All aboard

Elsewhere, a new Super Mario movie is heading to theatres in 2026, while 2027 will see a new season of The Last of Us, a fourth Sonic the Hedgehog Movie, and The Angry Birds Movie 3.

Earlier this year, Supercell signed a deal with Netflix to bring the Clash universe to the streaming platform. Meanwhile, FunPlus has set up its own transmedia studio in Lisbon to explore opportunities outside of games, starting with the Sea of Conquest comic series ‘Cradle of the Gods’.

And just recently at Gamescom, it’s worth noting that Netflix, Paramount and Disney were all on the expo floor promoting some of their biggest TV shows.

Gaming’s expansion across entertainment mediums - and vice versa - is very much alive and kicking.

The real question in all of this is: how does this impact the bottom line and the future of these games franchises? Does a box office success mean Call of Duty will sell more games and have a meaningful effect on Microsoft’s financials, or are these simply just vanity projects?

Personally, I’ve enjoyed some of these partnerships, but there’s a question mark over whether it really moves the needle for the companies that own them, and if they should be focused on doing the most difficult thing of all: following up on successes with new hit games. 

We’ll be discussing all things transmedia at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki on October 7th with a special Transmedia Summit. We’ll be announcing our roster of speakers soon.