With the days of going to the video stores to rent something to watch long behind us (RIP, Blockbuster, except for this one), it's hard to imagine our lives today without streaming services.
Though we already have an overwhelming amount of content to choose from, the business continues to grow.
The global streaming-media market size was valued at $372 billion in 2021, and it's projected to hit $1,69 trillion by the year 2029, per the Motion Picture Association.
So while the space is already quite crowded, many still hope to push into it and tap consumers' wallets. And as Netflix's (NFLX) hold on the market has begun to weaken, it leaves the floor open for others to come into the space and innovate.
Sony (SNE) is the newest to announce plans to enter the space, not long after the formation of its PlayStation Productions division in 2019.
Its first effort was a feature film based on the "Uncharted" videogame series, an Indiana Jonesesque adventure that raked in more than $400 million globally, making it the fourth-highest-grossing videogame film of all time.
Its award-winning game "The Last of Us," which tells the story of a man and a young girl surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, is also currently being made into an HBO series, due out in 2023.
Motivated by the success of that project, Sony says three more of its games will come to the big screen. But this time, they'll be shows instead.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Which Games Are Being Made Into Shows?
During an investor briefing on Wednesday, May 25, Sony President Jim Ryan said that two of its longest-running videogame franchises, "God of War" and "Gran Turismo," would be adapted for television.
"God of War," a story based on ancient mythology where the player takes the role of a Spartan warrior, will come to Amazon (AMZN) Prime. Sony was rumored to be in talks about developing the show earlier this year.
"Gran Turismo," a hyperrealistic car-racing game, has not been connected with a network yet but is confirmed to be in development.
Ryan also named "Horizon Zero Dawn," the story of a young huntress navigating a world overtaken by machines, as its third title for adaption to TV, which will debut on Netflix.
The youngest series of the bunch, "Horizon Zero Dawn" premiered in 2017, followed by the sequel "Horizon Forbidden West." The two games have won dozens of awards collectively.
Film adaptations of videogames have historically been known as being thin shadows of the games that inspired them. That's begun to change in the past five years, with the "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie breaking the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time for a videogame adaptation.
The 2019 film "Pokemon Detective Pikachu," starring Ryan Reynolds, drew $433.9 million globally, as well as fairly positive reviews, including being called "the best videogame movie ever" by Forbes.
Netflix also continues to invest heavily in adapting videogame properties. Its more recent "Castlevania" and "Resident Evil" shows have performed well, and it's said that its working on many more based on popular long-running franchises, including "Tomb Raider," "Assassin's Creed," and "BioShock."
