80%
Probable
According to a new report from Reuters, American media and entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal may enter the video game business following the planned split from Comcast (which is roughly targeting mid-2027 for the separation).
Michael Cavanagh, who is poised to run NBCUniversal after the split, said:
We have the freedom now to explore adjacent businesses where we have the right to play.
This includes "opportunities in digital gaming and new entertainment franchises", according to Reuters. NBCUniversal owns several big intellectual properties that could do very well in gaming, such as Jurassic World, Fast & Furious, Despicable Me / Minions, Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Battlestar Galactica, Back to the Future, Universal Monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Creature), Jaws and Law & Order.
Jurassic World is arguably the most game-ready IP in NBCUniversal's portfolio. Open-world survival, base-building, or a tense horror experience in the vein of Alien: Isolation would all work exceptionally well. There's already precedent in Frontier's construction-and-management series, Jurassic World Evolution, but a true AAA action or survival title has never been done well.
Fast & Furious practically writes itself as an open-world racing and action game. In 2020, Slightly Mad Studios released Fast & Furious Crossroads, which, however, was an utter failure. The upcoming game Clutch is following a formula that could fit a new F&F game very well.
Despicable Me / Minions could be a goldmine for family-friendly platformers or co-op games. Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon both had game tie-ins in their heyday and would benefit enormously from a modern revisit. The latter especially fits a family-friendly action-adventure open-world game.
Battlestar Galactica is a sleeper pick with seriously underutilized potential. So far, there have been licensed strategy games (2017's Battlestar Galactica Deadlock by Slitherine and the upcoming Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes by Alt Shift), but the revered sci-fi franchise could be adapted into other genres, too, such as a Mass Effect-like game in the vein of the upcoming The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
Then there are cult classic franchises like Back to the Future and Jaws, with the former lending itself to an adventure game with a time-manipulation twist, while Jaws could be a tense nautical horror title. Universal Monsters could fit a gothic action-RPG in the Castlevania tradition. Lastly, Law & Order might work well as a narrative crime game, something between L.A. Noire and a Telltale-style experience.
Granted, to make games in these franchises, NBCUniversal will first have to build its own internal teams. It is just their luck that, with all of the gaming layoffs and studio closures on the way (especially from Xbox), they might find enough experienced talent to actually pull this off.
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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