7 Video games that have been adapted into TV series

With rich stories, lore and a plethora of characters, it may seem logical that video games may be a natural fit being adapted for the screen, especially with Hollywood historically trying and mostly failing with video game film adaptations. Though the recent Super Mario and Sonic films are notable exceptions to the rule.

Interestingly, we seem to be seeing an uptick in video game series adaptations in recent years, with the success of recent series like Amazon’s Fallout. Here are some of the biggest adaptations that have graced our screens.

The Witcher is a series of fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapowski, which have been adapted into three main video games. Netflix commissioned the show with Henry Cavill cast as the titular gruff anti-hero Geralt.

The series could be classed as hard fantasy, dealing with gritty and darker depictions of fairytale creatures, alongside political drama and war. Netflix’s adaptation mixes aspects of the story from the Witcher games, along with the main story from the novels, with a few creative departures for storytelling.

Set in a post-apocalyptic America, The Last of Us follows the story of Sony’s games of the same name. In a post-apocalyptic future, humanity has been ravaged by a parasitic hive-like fungus, that turns people into zombie-like creatures. Like the game’s story the series follows smuggler Joel, who relentingly escorts the immune teenager Ellie across the country in hopes of finding a cure, encountering threats and problems along the way.

Recently released and based on Bethesda’s long-running open-world RPG game, Fallout is set in a post-apocalyptic America that has been decimated by nuclear war.

The show takes inspiration from different Fallout games but creates a new story set in the same universe. The story follows Lucy, a vault dweller that ventures out into the wasteland on a mission and discovers the harsh reality of life outside of the safety she was accustomed to.

The long-awaited Halo series premiered on Paramount+ in 2022, after almost a decade languishing in development, being announced by Microsoft in 2013.

The story follows augmented super soldier the Master Chief (or John-117 if you know him), a seemingly unemotional machine, coming to grips with his humanity. The story is set a few hundred years in the future as humanity continues to find its footing in the galaxy, as it battles against the alien forces of The Covenant.

Arcane is an animated steampunk action series set around Riot Games popular title League of Legends, an expansive online game. The story follows sisters Vi and Jinx, who are thrown into a conflict over clashing beliefs and different character motivations.

CyberPunk: Edgerunnners is a stand-alone Japanese animated series that debuted on Netflix. It’s a sci-fi action story set in 2077, based on the CyberPunk universe, made by game developers CD Projekt Red.

The story follows amateur David in the dystopian Night City, getting accustomed to the seedy criminal and dangerous underworld of the future, filled with gang violence over trade deals and black-market technology.

Castlevania is a horror fantasy series produced by Netflix, based on the long running action-adventure series Castlevania. The story follows protagonist and vampire hunter Trevor Belmont, as he aims to fight the legions of Dracula and protect humanity, alongside Dracula’s half-vampire son, Alucard.