- Netflix is taking the lead in providing live adaptation of video games to attract consumers.
- CyberPunk 2077 boasted over 100,000 players since its hugely successful live adaptation.
- The relationship between gaming IPs and streaming services could be a potential investment.
There is no doubt that the interest in the gaming culture has grown over the years to the point that streaming platforms make live adaptations of video games. The statistics show that gaming consumption trumps live television and streaming TV consumption by a small margin (57% of consumers engage in gaming versus 43% who enjoy live television and streaming services).
It has become a growing norm for streaming platforms to make live adaptations of certain popular games to attract a global audience to such platforms. While, in some cases, it offers a prospective future for streaming platforms, gaming IPs face an uncertain future where streaming platforms could take over gaming content and their creators. This article provides more details.
Streaming platforms making movie adaptations from gaming IPs: Cause and Effect
The entertainment world has always seen numerous adaptations from real-life scenarios, crime stories, books, documentaries, and other genres. Netflix is always the first streaming platform to often take the bull by its horn.
Recently, Netflix made a successful run with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which gained the attention of gamers and non-gamers worldwide. Another game adaptation was Netflix’s The Witcher” which premiered in 2019, based on a Polish book series inspired by the popular game franchise. As a result, “The Witcher” has been running for two seasons and has become a popular show for Netflix subscribers to watch.
This adaptation from gaming to live action has become a central battleground in the media wars. These streaming services, including Netflix, Major, Disney Plus, and others, engage in a subtle yet fierce competition to provide quality content to increase subscriber counts. Paramount + is creating a mockumentary series called “Players,” which stems from the League of Legends game.
Streaming giants have realized that the gaming IP offers a consistent and valuable source to adapt these games into movies on their platforms to attract customers. While the subscriber counts increase on these platforms, the popularity of these game-inspired movies seems to have returned the games’ favor.
Following the release of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the gaming IP, Cyberpunk 2077 reported a robust increase in gaming activities than previous months. According to SteamDB, Cyberpunk 2077 now boasts about 100,000 players due to the Netflix adaptation of Cyberpunk: Edge Runners.
In the long run, these Increased user activities could make streaming services and game developers find innovative ways of investing in future crossovers and adaptations to raise respective platforms’ numbers.
Streaming services may take over what’s left of gaming IP
The relationship between streaming services and game developers is far from perfect. These two entertainment sides find unique ways to keep their subscribers’ interest in their platforms.
For instance, there has been a massive growth of significant influencers and content creators in the gaming world who have taken games’ live streaming to another level. These popular influencers often command customers’ attention and preferences in the gaming industry. In addition, they have signed lucrative contracts with streaming platforms like Twitch and Youtube.
Streaming giants like Netflix will soon start offering similar or significant bumps in deals with creators to begin exploring a different side of gaming IP. Speaking on this rising issue, Josh Cella, CRO at the gaming video content network G4, explained, “Look, I think that audience is evolving in real-time in front of us all. So what they preferred a year ago? I think it has already changed. “He added, “we are on the front lines of all that by having these Twitch stars have a real seat at the table.”
The crossover between gaming IP and streaming platforms is far from over. It will be of great interest to see how streaming platforms interact with gaming IPs in the future. Till then, Netflix invites all users to enjoy crossover movies and series based on gaming IPs.
