Could Fallout on Amazon entice TV watchers to become gamers?
Based on the popular post-apocalyptic video game series, Fallout is a brand-new Amazon Prime series that has garnered positive reviews and a second-season order from fans and critics alike.
A video game franchise’s big-screen adaptation used to be a doomed endeavour, but more recent attempts have achieved remarkable success. Barbie surpassed the second-highest movie office receipts of 2023 for the Super Mario Bros. movie from the previous year.
In the meantime, many TV viewers were taken aback when they learned that The Last of Us was based on video games. The show received nominations for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for its compelling narrative and outstanding acting.
It’s no secret that Hollywood studios find video games appealing. The most popular games have millions of devoted followers, providing filmmakers and writers with a ready-made universe to work with.
Viewers can be clearly drawn to adaptations. Can the phenomenon, however, operate in reverse? Can the new Fallout television series, for instance, persuade fans to play the role-playing games that served as its inspiration?
Interest in Fallout video games has skyrocketed since the TV show’s premiere. This week’s best-selling title in Europe was Fallout 4, a 2015 game that took up four of the top 10 ranking spots overall.
It should be mentioned that the game’s developer, Bethesda, a corporation owned by Microsoft, dropped the cost of certain of the series’ games and temporarily offered Fallout 76, a multiplayer game, for free.
One may argue that the majority of these downloads will originate from devoted viewers who had a sense of nostalgia when watching the show. However, not everyone is certain.
Fallout’s surge could not have been sustained by downloads from devoted fans alone, according to James Batchelor, editor-in-chief of the website GamesIndustry.biz, indicating that more people are becoming familiar with the games.
“It’s got to be new people as well, new people wanting to try out these games themselves,” he adds.
“The market for consoles is far less than that of Amazon Prime. Even while video games have grown in popularity, they are still not as common as streaming, TV, and movies.
“And the fact that Fallout is based on a video game, people are going to be intrigued to see the source material.
Not everyone has benefited from the resurgence of interest in the games. This week, a long-awaited fan initiative seems to have become an indirect casualty of the TV series, disappointing a certain group of Fallout enthusiasts.
A patch known as Fallout London turns PC versions of Fallout 4 into a “game within a game” that takes place in Britain.
The project’s lead, Dean Carter, claims that it “snowballed” into a four-year endeavour involving volunteers worldwide that was scheduled for publication on April 23, St. George’s Day, the national holiday of England, for free. Millions of people have seen the project’s trailers and two former Doctor Who actors are contributing voices to the cast.
However, Bethesda recently revealed last week that Fallout 4 would receive a postponed “next-gen” update on April 25 that would improve the game’s graphics and speed.
This implies that Fallout London may require additional weeks or months of effort. Carter acknowledges that he is annoyed that he wasn’t informed about the update’s schedule, but he also claims Bethesda is “fantastic with their community” overall and has asked Fallout London fans not to target the firm.
“Manage expectations, because this is going to happen, rather than just blindsiding us out of nowhere, which is what has happened,” he states. For a reaction, BBC Newsbeat has contacted Bethesda.
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