TV Series, Movies From Video Games Rising, Now Average 20 Per Year

TV shows and movies coming from original video games continue to accelerate as linear TV and streaming platforms search for new entertainment content.

From 2013 to 2021, there were 183 video game-related movies and TV series -- averaging just over 20 titles per year over nine years, according to Ampere Analysis. During the previous 13-year period -- 2000 to 2012 -- there were 130 titles, averaging 10 per year.

Over the last three years, streaming also saw an increase in titles: Five in 2019, one in 2020, and seven in 2021.

Game-related entertainment titles peaked in 2016, when there were 28 TV series and/or movies.

Last year, there were 21 movies and TV shows -- with 14 titles shown on linear TV platforms.

This year, Netflix has made major gains -- including TV series “Arcane” -- a game based on “League of Legends,” which placed in the top ten Netflix TV shows for six consecutive weeks, and Sony Pictures’ “Uncharted,” which grossed over $400 million box office globally.

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Over a 40-year period, Ampere Analysis says, intellectual property coming from 2,000 video games became movies, live-action or animated TV series and anime content, including movies based on “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Resident Evil,” “Sonic the Hedgehog” and the Pokémon franchises.

And more is coming. Of 118 commissioned titles tracked since the fourth quarter of 2018, 63 are yet to be released as a TV series or movie.

The most popular games last year, according to Ampere Analysis, were Roblox, Genshin Impact, Among Us, Fortnite, and Minecraft.

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