With hit films like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and series like The Witcher, it seems like video game adaptations have become the new fashion, and Sony is not looking to get left behind. Today in an investor briefing, Sony president Jim Ryan announced that three fan-favorite Playstation franchises would be getting a TV adaptation: Horizon, God of War, and Gran Turismo.
The news comes as more and more video game properties are getting scooped up for adaptations. Paramount+ just released the long-awaited Halo series, HBO is currently producing a highly anticipated The Last of Us adaptation, and in the coming years audiences will see films based on the Borderland and Super Mario franchises.
Horizon is the newest franchise of the three announced. The series currently has two entries, Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, released in 2017 and 2022 respectively. The games are set on a post-apocalyptic earth where centuries before, machines had taken over. Now, humans live in primitive tribes that live in uneasy harmony with the giant robotic creatures that roam the earth. The TV adaptation has reportedly found its home on Netflix, which has released a number of other video game adaptations like The Witcher, a Castlevania anime, and League of Legends Arcane.
An adaptation of the God of War franchise is probably the most anticipated and long-awaited of the three announced today. Throughout the years there have been many attempts at and announcements for film adaptations that never came to fruition. The series began in 2005 and includes eight games. The first seven games in the main series follow Kratos, a Spartan warrior, who after being tricked into killing his family by the Greek god of war Ares declares war on the entire Greek pantheon and sets out on a mission of vengeance. The eighth game, released in 2018, sees Kratos on a path toward redemption with his son when he finds himself in a new conflict with the Norse Gods. The adaptation has reportedly found its home on Prime Video.
The most interesting of the three adaptations announced is likely Gran Turismo. The franchise does not have a plot and is instead a racing simulator that prides itself on having a large selection of real-life vehicles for players to race with. The series is still in development so any details in regard to the plot of the series or what streamer or network it will be coming to are still under wraps.