A Minecraft Movie and The Last of Us fly the transmedia flag
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It’s been a big week for transmedia enthusiasts.
I used to hate this term when I kept hearing it over a decade ago. For some reason it was once a space ripe for investments in Canada – which invited international press on a transmedia tour, would you believe – back when it meant a much closer relationship between games and other mediums.
An example of this is actually from US developer Trion Worlds’ Defiance, which launched as both a TV series and a third-person shooter MMO. I think we’re past the era of trying to release across mediums simultaneously, relying instead on longstanding pre-existing IP with large fanbases.
I still kind of hate the term, but clearly there has been increasing success with games stepping into the film and TV spheres, particularly as the comic book superhero era fades somewhat.
Block-buster
A Minecraft Movie, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, has now passed $500 million globally. That puts it ahead of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 film, which grossed just under the figure and was still considered a success.
One scene in particular in the Minecraft movie has gone viral, with some fans even bringing a real chicken to a screening. Naturally, theatre workers weren’t particularly happy about this.
Also this week, The Last of Us is back with season two following the critical acclaim of the first season. Meanwhile, just last week Rovio announced The Angry Birds Movie 3 is set to hit cinemas on January 29th, 2027.
And don’t forget, we’re set for the Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 in 2026, while work is underway on Detective Pikachu 2.
But is it worth it?
For the world’s biggest games IP, it seems so. Minecraft has fired itself into sequel territory following its blockbuster opening, while Pokémon is said to be the highest-grossing media franchise in the world. Sonic, meanwhile, is a decades old IP where its films have relied on nostalgia for the franchise and Jim Carey.
Successes and failures
Things get a bit murkier elsewhere. The Last of Us is fantastic, but it’s not cheap at a reported $10 million (CAD) per episode in season one. Arcane: League of Legends was said to have a budget of $250m (USD).
Meanwhile, The Angry Birds Movie 2 was reported to have a budget of $65m, generating less three-times that at the box office. That was substantially less than the first film and doesn’t take into account significant marketing costs. Let’s not talk about Borderlands or Assassin’s Creed.
There’s a Hollywood appetite for games IP as the superhero fad starts to fade and streaming services are hungry to fill their catalogues. In part it’s a sign of games’ cultural relevance and large existing audiences that there’s the belief that theatres will be filled with fans (like Minecraft), as well as deep, ready-built worlds that can be effectively explored in a different format (The Last of Us).
But it can also look like a vanity project and an unnecessary distraction. Could that $250 million spent on Arcane have been better spent on development or another type of marketing, providing Riot Games with more meaningful returns?
Entertainment is bigger than just games, with non-gaming mediums encroaching on our time. But not many game IPs have the same pulling power and cultural relevancy of Mario, Pokémon and Minecraft.
