Dontnod Entertainment has announced that it has granted the rights of producing a Vampyr TV series to 20th Century Fox subsidiary, Fox 21 Television Studios. Transmedia production company DJ2 Entertainment will be helming the TV series adaptation based on the developer’s latest hit game, which was originally released for the PS4, Xbox One and PC in June 2018. Interestingly, it is also the same studio currently working on a Life Is Strange TV series.
Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Dontnod Entertainment CEO Oskar Guilbert said that Vampyr would be “a fantastic premise for a television show.” It certainly sounds like the TV series will appeal to both players of the game and those unfamiliar with the game, as he assures that it will be “a new and exciting way for fans of the game, as well as the uninitiated, to enter and engage with Vampyr’s rich, deep story.”
Vampyr was a commercial success, especially in the UK, where it rose to the top of the game charts in its first week. In our review, we stated that “the slow unraveling of its take on vampire lore was at least compelling enough to propel me through its melodramatic tendencies.” It would certainly be great to see the game’s lore and complex characters receive due diligence in an adaptation.
DJ2 Entertainment CEO Dmitri Johnson said: “The DJ2 team loves the creative vision Dontnod and Focus devote to all of their projects. The great relationship we’ve built with them since partnering on their incredible game, Life Is Strange, allowed us to get on board for Vampyr well before its release. Like them, we’re excited to collaborate with our friends at Fox21, Wonderland, and the rest of the creative team we’re assembling.”
The Vampyr TV series isn’t the only gaming property currently slated for a live-action TV adaptation. Netflix has The Witcher TV series in the works, while Showtime is currently developing a Halo TV series. All of this spells great news for the future of games on TV. How about a Mass Effect TV series in the vein of Star Trek?