Video games are big business, as the launch of new blockbuster titles routinely outgross even giant comic book movies on their opening weekends. But, despite Angry Birds taking the #1 spot in the US box-office this weekend, the actual content of the movie is a reminder that Hollywood has not done a particularly good job with transitioning video game IP to film and tv formats. 

 

Sure, film and comic properties have done amazingly well in games, as the ubiquitous Star Wars universe or the critically acclaimed generation of Nolan-inspired Batman games attest to, but it’s largely been a one-way street, with turds like the Resident Evil series littering the track record of games to movies. As of today, 2001’s Tomb Raider is the only game property to have grossed over 100M in the US. 

 

Cross-platform IP is the holy grail for any media conglomerate, and faced with dismal results from their Hollywood partnerships, gaming companies are beginning to take matters into their own hands, which leads us to the content of this post. Yesterday saw the launch of a brand-new franchise, Overwatch, onto PC and consoles. An online, team-based first-person shooter, the game is the first original IP to come from the acclaimed Blizzard Studio (Warcraft, Diablo) in over 17 years, and as part of their immense marketing efforts, the studio produced 4 stand alone short films that delve into the rich backstory of the world and its colorful, unique characters. 

 

Sporting gorgeous 3D CG animation, I found the films to be a blast, and despite not owning a current-gen game console, I was filled with a deep longing to play Overwatch. As marketing material, that’s mission accomplished, correct? Sure, but it’s also interesting to muse upon some of the context that made the idea of spending a lot of money and effort on 4 Pixar level short films — all distributed for free — a good idea.

 

Strong storytelling undeniably enriches an experience and deepens consumer connection to game franchises, but ironically it is becoming increasingly inconsequential to the gaming industry. Cinema-envy has been a fact of gaming for decades, think of the cut-scene rich storylines of “Final Fantasy” or the wanton gangsterism of the “Grand Theft Auto” series, but there are signs of a shift. As a fascinating article in The Verge asserts, “gaming as cinema” may have reached its apothesis in the recently released title, Uncharted 4, a series defined by it’s homages to early 20th century adventure film serials. 

 

Gaming is fundamentally different than movies, and current trends are slowly decoupling the mediums once again. Mobile games like “Candy Crush” and the utterly unique and creative title “Minecraft” have almost no reliance on story, and the rapid rise of competitive gaming, known as e-sports, similarly prizes multi-player games like “League of Legends”, where the backstory behind the action is practically incomprehensible. Series once known for engaging, linear, single-player experiences like the “Call of Duty” franchise are now largely played for these co-op modes. 

 

 

Story, it is proving out, is somewhat superfluous to gaming, and in an era where social online gaming, and addictive mobile gaming are ascendent, maybe it doesn’t make a ton of sense anymore to insert film-style storytelling as a central component of a game experience? So why the extensive world-building on display in the lead-up to “Overwatch”, and these 4 films? Well, story is increasingly tangential to gaming, but still integral to developing an IP across media platforms. 

 

It’s no surprise then to note that Blizzard’s parent company, Activision Blizzard, is leading the charge of game companies developing their own IP into narrative formats. Late 2015 saw the formation of Activision Blizzard Studios, a brand new arm of the company devoted to developing out film and tv projects based on its properties. Its first real test of audience appetite for such a proposition arrives next month in the form of Warcraft, a huge new CG blockbuster film based on the company’s popular Massive Multi-player Online Game “World of Warcraft”.

 

As story becomes increasingly marginalized from gaming itself, there exists an ever greater need to develop backstory and additional content away from the game itself, and as the anxious lead-up to “Overwatch“ shows, gorgeous animated short films could be just the ticket to both market the series, as well as to test out, and build demand for more involved narrative offerings. To be clear, gaming has flirted with this concept for a while, as incredibly detailed CG cinematic trailers (that often have very little to do with the games themselves) have been de rigeur for years, evolving into a unique entertainment art form in their own right. These “Overwatch” films take this trend to a new level however, both in scale, and narrative intent. We’re at the dawn of a new age of video games crossing over into linear narrative formats, and, as these pieces promise, short film could prove to be the ideal medium for gaming companies to make that happen.