Video game adaptations are no longer the big flops they once were, so we have high hopes for some heading to Netflix soon. Thanks to the likes of The Last Of Us scoring well with critics, and box office smash hits like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, attitudes towards these kinds of stories have changed. In the last few years, studios have started to bet big on gaming franchises with big-budget shows like Prime Video's Fallout TV series and Halo season 2 due to air in 2024.
Netflix has been ahead of the competition for some time; they've put out a ton of animated shows based on all kinds of top franchises. Some of their most recent projects include Castlevania: Nocturne, Pokémon Concierge, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, but we already know they've got a ton more at varying stages of production. Here's a handful of the Netflix video game adaptations we're looking forward to seeing the most.
BioShock
BioShock is consistently held as a high point when it comes to video game storytelling, and Netflix is about to introduce a whole new audience to the murky underwater metropolis of Rapture in a new live-action movie.
The project was first announced back in 2022, but we've had some promising updates since. For one, we know that the BioShock movie already has several big names attached. Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I Am Legend) is in the director's chair, and Blade Runner 2049 writer Michael Green has penned the script.
The movie is expected to closely follow the story of the acclaimed first game in the franchise (which we won't spoil here). Lawrence told GamesRadar in November 2023 that he felt they had "a really good script" prepared, teasing: "The truth is it's game one, so we're being very true to a lot of it, right? So, we're not breaking canon in any way. But we do have some new little twists that will surprise fans, but that all fit in. We have a really good script, I'm really excited about it."
Arcane season 2
Arcane is one of the best fantasy shows on Netflix, and in November 2024, we're finally getting to see the highly anticipated second chapter.
Based on the massively successful online game, League of Legends, Arcane season 2 will see the Emmy Award-winning show continuing to explore the conflict between two warring nations: the utopian city of Piltover, and its seedy counterpart, Zaun.
The first series took viewers by storm and was labelled by many as one of the best video game adaptations ever made, with praise coming for its emotional story of two sisters caught on the opposite sides of the conflict and, of course, Arcane's beautiful art style. The show left us with a dramatic cliffhanger last time around, and we can't wait to see what it leads to this year.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft
If you're a fan of Netflix's animated output (you should be, if not!), Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft should be on your radar.
Produced by Powerhouse Animation (the team behind the streamer's acclaimed Castlevania adaptation) and featuring the voice of Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter), The Legend of Lara Croft is an original story that follows on from the latest Square Enix Tomb Raider games, bridging the gap between that trilogy and the older titles.
Powerhouse's previous series have been dynamic and exciting, and our first look at The Legend of Lara Croft arrived in September 2023 suggests this new series will be just as fun to watch.
Gears of War
Just a few months after Bioshock was teased, the streaming giant also confirmed they were working on turning the iconic third-person shooter series Gears of War into a live-action movie, and an animated TV series is set to arrive later down the line!
The Gears franchise follows a ragtag squad of soldiers who are locked in combat with the Locust Horde, a race of reptilian humanoids hell-bent on exterminating the human race on the planet Sera. It's a franchise that needs a science-fiction expert to steer it in the right direction. Luckily, Netflix has enlisted someone who seems to be a perfect fit to do Gears justice!
Screenwriter Jon Spaihts (Dune, Doctor Strange, Prometheus) has been tapped to helm the movie, and it sounds like he's got high hopes for the project. "Gears of War is one of the all-time great action games, with vivid characters, a beautifully designed world and a combat system that drives home the lethality of war and the importance of standing by your squadmates,” Spaihts told Netflix. “It wants to be cinema, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to help that happen.”
Assassin's Creed
I've purposefully put this one at the bottom of the list as we know so little about it. Netflix's Assassin's Creed project was first announced way back in 2020 and was touted to be a "genre-bending live-action epic" per an announcement from Ubisoft, the game's developers. The deal also included animated and anime adaptations
Three years on, we've still had very little info about any of these projects; the most recent update we've had came from a Collider article revealing that showrunner Jeb Stuart (Die Hard, The Fugitive) was "no longer involved" in the series.
Stuart's departure isn't entirely disappointing, though, as he left the series feeling confident it would be good. Of his departure, Stuart said: "I know it's going to be great whenever it comes out. I think the Ubisoft guys are fantastic. I think it's a terrific franchise. It was just a good, mutual time to move on for both sides."
Looking for something to watch whilst you wait for these projects to hit our screens? Check out our recommendations for the best Netflix shows we think you should be streaming right now.
