August 27th, 2022, Christien Pheby
HBO recently unveiled the first footage from The Last of Us, the big-budget TV adaptation of the acclaimed (soon to be remade) PS3 game. It’s not alone among PlayStation franchises that are headed to the small or silver screen: God of War, Horizon, and Ghost of Tsushima are just a few of the titles set to get the cinematic treatment in the coming years. With Fallout, Mass Effect, and Gears of War on the way, other studios are getting in on the (live) action too.
But video game adaptations have often been badly received. For some time, they were synonymous with low-budget, critically-disdained efforts such as Alone in the Dark or the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film – and while recent attempts such as the Halo TV series, Netflix’s Arcane, and the Sonic the Hedgehog movies have earned better reviews, data from YouGov Direct shows that a significant proportion of players are still sceptical about whether or not their favourite franchises translate to celluloid.
We asked those who play PC or console games for at least an hour a week whether or not they think these adaptations are of good or bad quality. Our data shows that, while a plurality of Americans think video game franchises have generally made solid films or TV shows (44%%), a third (34%) think the opposite. In Britain, gamers are significantly more likely to think video game adaptations are of a low standard (29% good; 49% poor).
Demographic differences between the two nations could account for the greater negativity in Great Britain. Two in five British gamers are aged 18-34 (39%), 39% are aged 35-54, and 22% are 55+; in the US, 44% are aged 18-34, 35% are aged 35-44, and 22% are over 55. This is a younger audience in America: when asked for their views on game adaptations, they may be more likely to think of Netflix’s well-rated Castlevania series than the work of (Razzie-winning, critic-punching) Uwe Boll.
As for the upcoming titles they’re most excited to see turned into cinematic or televised entertainment, American gamers are most likely to be excited for the upcoming Final Fantasy (26%), Super Mario (26%), Fallout (22%), and God of War (25%) adaptations. British gamers, on the other hand, are most keen to see The Last of Us (23%), Fallout (22%), Final Fantasy (19%), and Mass Effect (17%) – suggesting a slightly greater preference for narrative-focused games.
Sony may be heartened by the number of PlayStation titles that are among the most anticipated screen offerings: the company is making a big push to pull additional value from its pre-existing IP, and game adaptations are reportedly an important part of this for the business.
Methodology
UK
YouGov polled 2,000 British adults online on 21 August 2022 between 19:30 and 08:53 BST. The survey was carried out through YouGov Direct. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade. The margin of error is 2% for the overall sample.
US
YouGov polled 2,000 US adults online on 21 August 2022 between 19:30 and 2:45 BST. The survey was carried out through YouGov Direct. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, political affiliation, and ethnicity. The margin of error is 2% for the overall sample. Learn more about YouGov Direct.
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