While the long-standing curse of gaming adaptations has been broken for quite a while, the Fallout TV adaptation (just renewed for a second season) stands out from many others not only because of its sheer quality but also because it dared to progress the story further, taking place after the latest games instead of merely adapting existing storylines.
In a wide-ranging interview with GamesIndustry, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors singled out the Fallout Amazon Prime Video TV series as a fantastic example of transmedia, one he'd like to repeat with The Lord of the Rings IP.
Just the Middle-earth opportunity on its own is just amazing if you think about it – what you can do and how you can expand that world and how you can do that with gaming, but also how you can combine it with other media. I'm a huge believer in transmedia. I'm encouraged to see the success of Fallout on Amazon Prime in recent weeks. It's a fantastic example of how you could do a successful transmedia.
Of course, while Fallout is originally a gaming IP, The Lord of the Rings is not. As such, games based on J.R.R. Tolkien's literary masterpiece can be considered examples of transmedia themselves. Embracer, which recently decided to split into three separate listed companies with the triple-A game development one being Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends, is staking a lot on what is arguably the most renowned fantasy IP. Last June, Embracer executives discussed the need to turn The Lord of the Rings into one of the biggest gaming franchises. Following last year's release of Return to Moria, the next adaptation will be Tales of the Shire, due this year. Further off is Amazon's The Lord of the Rings MMO.
As for non-gaming adaptations, the animated film prequel The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is scheduled to release on December 13, while new movies are in production at Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. The second season of the Amazon TV series Rings of Power should be released this year on Prime Video.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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