In the latest edition of the so-called 'State of the Sanderson', the yearly recap that the popular fantasy author writes to let his fans know what he's worked on and what's next, Brandon Sanderson revealed that he's been talking to triple-A game companies to make a Mistborn game happen. Here's the relevant quote from the blog post:
I’ve started to get some real interest on the video game front, and I feel I’m finally getting established enough that we can make a Mistborn game happen. To that end, I’ve started talking to some AAA developers. This is at Step One only, but it’s an encouraging one. These rights were tied up with the film rights for the last… oh, six~seven years, so I didn’t get to test the market on them until recently.
I’m trying to do things differently this time in an effort to retain control of my video game rights. I already have interest from some major players in the Video Game industry (who I like a lot). So if you are a decision maker at a AAA studio, or a major independent, and you’ve always wanted to make a Mistborn or Stormlight game… well, you would want to contact my reps now.
The key change is that Sanderson had unwisely decided to license the film and game rights together, and ultimately, neither thing happened. In October 2016, the author selected DMG Entertainment as the licensee of not just Mistborn but the entire Cosmere (Sanderson's fantasy universe, where most of his books are set), and an adaptation of Mistborn: The Final Empire was planned, but the project stalled.
Presumably, the gaming rights have now reverted to the author, who is now free to seek a new partner for the game adaptation. There once was a project called Mistborn: Birthright, announced in 2012 and developed by Little Orbit (which would later be infamously known for the failure of Unsung Story), but it was canceled.
Sanderson himself is a massive gamer. In early 2022, he made headlines when he jokingly complained that FromSoftware had picked A Song of Ice and Fire author G.R.R. Martin to help them create the mythos of Elden Ring. He did contribute to a game shortly afterward, working with Unknown Worlds on the turn-based strategy game Moonbreaker.
Still, there's no question that he's very excited about the prospect of a triple-A game set on Scadrial (the world where Mistborn takes place). As a massive fan of all things Sanderson, Mistborn very much included, I am equally intrigued. There's a lot of potential for an action RPG here, especially with the incredibly deep mythology already established by Sanderson and the cool allomancy and feruchemy magic systems.
Who would you pick as the ideal developer of a Mistborn game? Let us know in the comments!
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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