Game adaptations change their source material because films, television and games tell stories in different ways. A screen version may omit playable material or expand a side character; a game may reshape its story to fit gameplay, level design or player choice. The point is not to preserve every detail unchanged, but to make the new work function on its own terms while deciding what to carry forward.
What counts as a change in a game adaptation?
“Adaptation” can describe more than one process. A film or television series based on a game selects and reshapes material from an existing work. A game’s own story may also change as its developers build and revise the interactive experience. Those processes are related, but they are not identical: one translates a story between media, while the other makes narrative decisions during game development.
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In either case, a change is easiest to understand when you identify what was changed and what the new version needs to accomplish. A scene might be removed because it depended on player activity; a character might receive more time because a screen narrative can explore them differently; or a plot point might be adjusted to accommodate gameplay. Those are possible functions, not proof that every change succeeds or that every creator had the same motive.
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Asad Qizilbash, Head of PlayStation Productions, puts the variety of approaches plainly: “There’s not one size that fits all in terms of a method of adapting video games to film or TV.” The source game matters. So does the form the new work is trying to take.
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- Enhanced visuals: Completely rebuilt from the ground up using Naughty Dog’s latest PS5 engine technology to improve every visual detail, The Last of Us experience has been faithfully enhanced with more realistic lighting and atmosphere, more intricate environments and creative reimaginings of familiar spaces.
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Why does the medium change the story?
A film or television episode presents a sequence chosen by its creators. A game must also make room for the player to act: to move through spaces, learn systems, make choices or repeat a gameplay loop. These different demands affect which story elements can be preserved as they are, which need another form, and which may not belong in the adaptation.
Qizilbash contrasts two PlayStation Productions projects to show why the starting point matters. The Last of Us already had a developed story, world and characters to draw on. The games in the Gran Turismo series, by contrast, did not have an established narrative in the same way. Sony’s Gran Turismo film instead centered on the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a player of the game who became a professional race-car driver.
| Example | What the source offered | Adaptation or design choice |
|---|---|---|
| The Last of Us television adaptation | An established story, world and characters | Balance material to leave out with new material, including deeper exploration of side characters |
| Gran Turismo film | A game series without an established story in the games | Center the film on Jann Mardenborough’s real-life path from player to professional driver |
| Until Dawn | A horror story experienced through play | Let events and player decisions affect character fates and the story’s progression |
| The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | A long-running series with recognizable history and gameplay expectations | Develop story and world elements alongside level design and continuity considerations |
The examples are not a ranking or a recipe. They show that an adaptation can begin with a detailed plot to reinterpret, or with a game whose identity rests more on its activity and world than on a fixed narrative. The relevant question is not simply “How much changed?” but “What did the original provide, and what is the new version trying to make work?”
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A screen adaptation does not need to reproduce every playable sequence to remain connected to its source. Some game material is built around the player’s activity rather than around a scene that can be transferred intact. A screen version can select the parts that support its own narrative and give other elements a different role or no role at all.
For The Last of Us, Qizilbash describes the task as deciding what to leave out and what new material to add. He points to deeper exploration of side characters as one opportunity in television: material that could not work in a video game in the same way can be developed for a noninteractive story. That is a specific example of a change in emphasis, not a claim that games cannot develop side characters or that the series simply replaces the game’s story.
Qizilbash summarizes the approach this way: “It’s all about using the source material as inspiration versus as a rule book.” Treating the source as inspiration does not mean that any departure is automatically justified. It means the adaptation is an interpretation, and its choices can be considered in terms of what they preserve, omit, expand or reframe.
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Why can a game’s story shift during development?
In a game, narrative and gameplay have to coexist in the same experience. A plot beat may look compelling in isolation but need adjustment when it conflicts with the way a level plays or with the interaction the team is building. The story can therefore remain flexible while the game takes shape.
Ember Lab co-founder Josh Grier describes his team’s process as more iterative than film development. He says, “Gameplay is king and if you want to tell a compelling narrative within that, you have to be flexible.” He also describes the team looking for creative solutions so gameplay and story can work together. This is Grier’s account of Ember Lab’s approach, not a universal rule about every studio or game.
For a player, this distinction helps explain why a game’s finished story may not match an early idea or a straightforward narrative outline. A change can be a response to the practical work of making a playable experience, rather than a judgment that the original idea was inherently poor. The evidence does not establish how often this happens across the industry or how much any one factor drives a particular revision.
How does player choice become part of the story?
Some games make the player’s actions consequential to the narrative rather than presenting one fixed sequence. In a PlayStation.Blog interview, Supermassive executive creative director Will Byles describes Until Dawn as a story that responds to events and decisions. A player controls characters’ fates; when a character dies, the story advances rather than resetting or respawning that character.
That structure changes what a story scene is for. The player is not only watching a character face danger; their decisions can help determine the outcome. Byles captures the intended responsiveness in the short phrase, “The story will change, adapt.” This is an account of Until Dawn, not a description of all games based on established stories.
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Byles also explains that the team minimized on-screen interface elements. The goal was to make the game enjoyable both to play and to watch, with fewer abstract interface elements helping preserve immersion. This shows that adaptation-relevant choices are not limited to plot. Presentation can be shaped by the experience a game wants to create and the contexts in which people encounter it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do level design and series continuity constrain a game?
Story and world-building decisions can be tied to the spaces a player moves through. In Nintendo’s interview with the developers of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the team discusses designing rifts that could appear in different locations, accommodate level design and change as the story progressed. The account shows narrative development happening alongside decisions about how the world is arranged and played.
Continuity adds another consideration for a long-running series. Eiji Aonuma discusses weighing how much to add or change while keeping the game recognizably part of Zelda, and considering how players may respond when a plot appears inconsistent with established history. A new story development has to sit alongside gameplay priorities and the expectations created by earlier entries.
This example does not establish a formula for managing lore in every franchise. It does show why a change may be judged on more than whether it matches an earlier plot detail: developers may also be considering the playable world, the new game’s needs and how the series is understood by its audience.
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A useful evaluation starts with the specific choice, not a general tally of what is different. Ask what the source material actually contained, what the adaptation changed, and what the new version appears to gain or lose. The following questions help separate a purposeful change from a departure whose effect is less clear:
- Medium fit: Does the choice use the strengths of film, television or interactive play, or respond to a constraint of that form?
- Story or gameplay function: Does the change let the screen version develop an element differently, or help the game’s narrative work alongside play?
- Relationship to the source: What has been preserved, omitted, expanded or reframed? Be precise about the change before deciding what it means.
- Agency and consequence: In a game, do player actions affect events or character outcomes, or is the story largely fixed?
- Continuity and expectations: Does the choice fit the established world, and how might audiences interpret a departure from what came before?
These are comparison questions, not a formal scoring system. A change can fit the new medium and still be unconvincing to a particular viewer or player. Conversely, a difference from the source is not, by itself, evidence of disrespect. The useful discussion is about what the choice does in the new work and how well that work delivers its own experience.
What do the creator accounts establish—and what do they not?
The examples offer direct explanations from people involved in the projects: Qizilbash on PlayStation Productions’ approaches to The Last of Us and Gran Turismo; Grier on Ember Lab’s iterative development; Byles on Until Dawn; and Nintendo’s developers on Echoes of Wisdom. Together they illustrate several grounded reasons for change: adapting to a medium, coordinating narrative with gameplay, making player agency consequential, designing levels and managing series continuity.
They do not provide an industry-wide measure of how frequently adaptations alter their sources, nor do they establish how much each reason contributes across games or screen projects. Treat each explanation as evidence about the named project and creator, rather than a universal account of adaptation. That distinction makes it possible to discuss a specific change without assuming either that every departure is necessary or that every source must be followed literally.
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