What If A24 Expanded Into Gaming?

Highlights

Film and video game industries have a symbiotic relationship, with movies adapting games and vice versa.
Film studios are entering the gaming industry, but with mixed results. Why not A24 too?
A24 could potentially follow in the footsteps of Blumhouse and Annapurna Interactive, focusing on smaller, unique indie games.

Over the last decade, the relationship between the film industry and video games has become more and more complex. Movies have long capitalised on popular video games, creating adaptations that span the spectrum of quality in an attempt to bring iconic protagonists and stories to life. With the advent of streaming, we’re also starting to see games being adapted into full television series, like The Last of Us and Fallout.

But this doesn’t go one way – loads of video games have also been made about films. Alien, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and The Evil Dead all have games set in the same universe as their movies, and that is far from an exhaustive list. It’s a symbiotic relationship in which both industries try to profit off each others’ successes, for better or for worse. A lot of terrible media has been made on both ends in an attempt to farm for profit, like the ill-fated ET game widely cited as the worst game ever made.

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Why Are Film Studios Publishing Games Now?

My guess is the obvious reason: money. Gaming is a huge industry, and the medium is increasingly considered a ‘serious’, ‘legitimate’ art form, which really just means that the majority of cultural critics have been overlooking it until now. This is a relatively recent phenomenon that’s led film publishers to move into the video game industry proper, and get in on actually publishing and platforming games instead of just recycling the same IP between industries.

Studios have had mixed results, but the ones that have managed to do it well have gained reputations for being great game publishers in their own rights. The ones that tried to go straight for the moneymakers, though, have largely had mediocre to bad results. Go figure.

Why Would A24 Want In On This?

I’ve been thinking a lot about Blumhouse Productions’ recent move into the indie horror game space with the formation of Blumhouse Games. This bold foray into gaming is particularly interesting to me as Blumhouse is best known as a producer of small- to mid-budget horror films, and indie horror games are a direct match to that in the games industry.

But Blumhouse isn’t the first to do this. Lionsgate has been creating games based on its IP since 2014, like 2019’s Blair Witch and 2022’s Evil Dead: The Game, though these games don’t quite sit in the same market as Blumhouse’s announced slate. Much like Lionsgate’s movies, they’ve historically fallen short of their potential. Bad Robot, to a smaller extent, has also attempted to move into video games, having been involved in Devolver’s Weird West and the much maligned Silent Hill: Ascension.

Perhaps the closest analogue to Blumhouse we have right now is Annapurna Interactive, a division of Annapurna Pictures. While film buffs will know Annapurna as the production company behind movies like Zero Dark Thirty, The Master, Her, Booksmart, Nimona, and much more, Annapurna Interactive holds high stature among fans of indie games. It’s published gems like Kentucky Route Zero, What Remains of Edith Finch, Neon White, Outer Wilds, Stray, Cocoon, as well as one of my favourite games of 2024 so far, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

You’ll notice that Annapurna is the most successful of these companies at penetrating the video game space, and that’s largely because it’s spent its money investing into unique indie games with a lot of potential. While other companies have pumped money into bigger, IP-driven games, Annapurna has done the smart thing of platforming smaller, more interesting games, diversifying its risk.

It might seem counterproductive, but with ballooning development cycles and budgets, small is the way to go. It’s proven to be more financially sustainable, and has gained Annapurna Interactive a reputation of its own as an indie publisher to look out for. You’ll rarely, if ever, hear someone say they’re excited to see what Lionsgate is cooking up next, but eyes are always on Annapurna to see what it’s got in store, even though Lionsgate often spends more money.

So, Why Not A24?

We already know that the entertainment company has been trying to move into more commercial franchises and films, which proves that it’s willing to branch out to expand its influence. To survive in the independent film space, it has to make a couple guaranteed blockbusters, because despite being one of the most critically lauded production companies of the last couple of years, awards do not pay the bills.

It’s not much of a stretch to imagine A24 eventually doing something similar to Blumhouse. Its artistic sensibilities are already a hit with critics and audiences, but perhaps it doesn’t quite have the financial backing to embark on a project like that just yet. The idea is intriguing, though – I feel like right now, Annapurna is the A24 of the gaming industry, in that it focuses on smaller projects that offer thematically and narratively rich experiences. Devolver’s games often have a similar vibe as well, with a focus on the strange and wacky.

I imagine A24 would do something similar and true to its roots, zeroing in on games with smaller scopes and budgets that offer original, innovative experiences. It might look like Blumhouse, or rather, I hope it would. I’m not a fan of media consolidation, but knowing that film studios are putting that good movie money in the hands of independent developers with unconventional ideas makes me sleep a little better at night. The industry is in the trenches right now, but there are companies – with money! – that want creativity to thrive. A24 might not enter the fray any time soon, but just imagine if it did.