Some video game adaptations succeed because they understand what makes a game compelling and translate that appeal into a story built for the screen. That does not always mean copying the plot: The Last of Us adapts a defined story and its emotional relationships, while Fallout tells a new story in a familiar world and Gran Turismo draws on a real racing career. There is no single formula—and faithfulness is more than reproducing scenes.
Why do some video game adaptations succeed while others fail?
The strongest explanation is fit: does the adaptation identify what the game offers, then use film or television to convey that appeal? A game might provide a character-driven plot, a distinctive setting, a gameplay experience, a competitive culture, or a real-world connection. Different strengths call for different screen stories.
Asad Qizilbash, head of PlayStation Productions at Sony Interactive Entertainment, put it this way: “There’s not one size that fits all in terms of a method of adapting video games to film or TV.” Sony’s account of PlayStation Productions contrasts The Last of Us, which already had a developed story and characters, with Gran Turismo, a franchise without an established story. The latter film used the real story of Jann Mardenborough, a player who became a professional racing driver.
These are useful examples of creative approaches, not proof of a universal formula. Reporting and interviews can illuminate decisions, but they do not establish that any one factor caused an adaptation to succeed. “Success” itself can mean different things: strong reviews, audience interest, commercial performance, or approval from fans. Those outcomes should not be treated as interchangeable.
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What makes a good video game adaptation?
Understand what fans value in the game
Knowing the source means more than recognizing its characters and plot. It means understanding its tone, relationships, visual identity, and the experiences players remember. The Last of Us is often discussed as a case where game creator Neil Druckmann and screenwriter and showrunner Craig Mazin brought knowledge of the source together with television storytelling experience. Jon Wardle, director of the National Film and Television School, told the Royal Television Society that the series and Fallout resonated because they were “made by people who love and understand the games.” That is an informed observation, not a guarantee of results.
Mazin has argued that adaptations struggled when the people making them did not love the game. That is his view, rather than a demonstrated causal finding. Affection for a source can help a creative team notice what matters; it still has to be paired with sound choices for the screen.
Translate the experience, not just the events
Players act, explore, and make choices; film and television viewers follow a fixed sequence. Lisa Opie of Ubisoft described that difference in Royal Television Society coverage of game adaptations. A screen version therefore cannot simply transfer gameplay into a passive viewing experience. It has to decide what the audience should feel—tension, discovery, vulnerability, or connection—and create that effect through performance, pacing, sound, imagery, and narrative.
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The British Film Institute argues that adaptations can work by embracing a source’s distinctive feel and visual language. In the case of The Last of Us, that includes carrying over its emotional arc and survival-horror experience. The useful measure of fidelity is whether the adaptation preserves the game’s defining appeal, not whether every scene happens in the same way.
Choose a story strategy that suits the source
A game with a complete plot and defined characters may support a direct retelling. A franchise with a rich setting but no single story to adapt can instead use that world for new characters and events. And where the game’s strongest connection is to a real activity or culture, a film may build its narrative around that link. Fallout uses its long-established universe and recognizable tone for a fresh screen story; Gran Turismo turns to Mardenborough’s real life.
These strategies solve different problems. A new story in a familiar world can avoid replaying a plot fans already know, while a retelling can preserve a particularly strong existing narrative. Neither approach is inherently better; each must make the source’s appeal legible on screen.
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Make deliberate changes for the new medium
Adaptation involves choices about what to omit, add, or reshape. Sony’s discussion of The Last of Us describes the need to leave some material out while giving side characters deeper attention. Mazin has described asking what works best as television and when a different choice serves that format better.
The relevant question is not whether an adaptation changes anything. It is whether a change helps the screen story while retaining or sharpening what makes the game distinctive. Copying every event can be as unhelpful as changing the source without understanding its purpose.
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Does an adaptation have to stay faithful to the game?
It should be faithful to the source’s defining qualities, but not necessarily to every plot beat, mission, or interaction. Literal accuracy can preserve events while losing the player’s sense of agency or the emotional meaning those events had in play. Conversely, a new plot can still feel faithful if it respects the world’s tone, logic, and themes.
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For The Last of Us, fidelity can mean preserving the relationship at the story’s center and its emotional progression while adapting pacing and perspective for television. For Fallout, it can mean recreating a recognizable world and tone while introducing a different story. The right standard depends on what the particular game gives its audience.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why can television work better than a movie for some games?
Television can give characters and plot more room to develop across episodes, a point noted by the Associated Press in its coverage of The Last of Us. That space can suit games whose appeal depends on relationships unfolding over time. A film may be a better fit when the premise lends itself to a focused, self-contained story. Runtime alone does not determine quality: the format has to give the material enough room without diluting it.
A screen adaptation also needs to welcome viewers who never played the game. Mazin told the Television Academy, “We made the show for people who’d played it a hundred times or zero times.” Druckmann similarly said, “You don’t need to play the game to enjoy the show.” The goal is to make the stakes and characters understandable on their own while leaving recognizable details and thematic depth for existing fans.
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What the better-known adaptations illustrate
| Adaptation | What the source offers | Screen strategy | What it illustrates |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Last of Us | A developed story, defined characters, and an emotional relationship at its center. | A television retelling shaped with input from game creator Neil Druckmann and screenwriter Craig Mazin. | How a team can preserve an emotional arc and survival-horror feel while making selective additions and omissions for episodic storytelling. |
| Fallout | A longstanding game universe with a recognizable tone. | A fresh screen story in the established world. | How world-building can support new characters and events rather than a direct retelling; the BFI notes the setting’s detailed recreation. |
| Gran Turismo | A racing game franchise without an established narrative in the franchise. | A film drawing on Jann Mardenborough’s real story. | How a game’s competitive culture and real-world links can provide a narrative route when there is no existing plot to adapt. |
| Arcane and Castlevania | Established game properties. | Animated television adaptations. | Examples that broaden the discussion beyond live-action versions; the available reporting identifies them as successful but does not provide comparable performance measures. |
Why are video game movies so often criticized?
There is no single explanation established by the evidence here. A recurring risk is a mismatch between what people value in the game and what the screen version delivers: familiar names and images may not be enough if the adaptation loses the tone, relationships, or experience behind them. Another risk is treating gameplay as if it were already a screen narrative, even though players participate and viewers do not.
It is also important to distinguish criticism from other outcomes. A negative review, fan disappointment, low box office, and weak viewership are different claims and require different evidence. The sources discussed here do not provide a consistent list of failed adaptations or comparable measures for ranking them, so a few notable disappointments cannot stand in for a complete history.
What the available audience figures do—and do not—show
The Royal Television Society reported 30 million viewers per episode in the United States for The Last of Us in its 2025 article. The passage reviewed does not document the measurement definition or underlying source, so the figure should be understood as an RTS-reported number rather than an independently audited measure. It indicates reported audience reach; it does not by itself explain why the series connected with viewers or prove a recipe other adaptations can repeat.
The Television Academy reported that the The Last of Us game had sold 37 million copies since its 2013 release in a 2023 article. That is a historical figure from that publication, not a current sales total. A large player base may mean many people recognize the source, but sales alone cannot tell whether a screen adaptation will satisfy players or make sense to newcomers.
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