2025 Was Another 'Big Year' for Video Game Adaptations, but Was Any Progress Actually Made?

""Fallout" Season 2 debuts on Prime Video this Wednesday, December 17, and with it comes 2025's final chance to live up to the long-promised "big moment for video game adaptations." That's a lot of pressure to put on series star Ella Purnell, but someone has to do something at a time when the Warner Bros. fire sale is throwing Hollywood into a tailspin - and collaboration with the roughly $188 billion games industry feels more urgent and essential than ever before."

"Since Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo donned overalls for 1993's history-making "Super Mario Bros.," audiences have been told to keep an eye out for the next great wave of storytelling. Progress has been slow, both technically and creatively. There have been notable successes ( h/t "Pokémon: Detective Pikachu"), but the history of game-to-screen adaptations is still broadly defined by misfires, misunderstandings, and routine public embarrassment. From financial wipeouts to baffling misreads of beloved source material, some of Hollywood's most notorious flops began as video games. Those failures widened the cultural gap between audience types and reinforced the sense that the traditional entertainment industry was losing touch with younger consumers. In 2025, the film and TV business largely avoided those mistakes - delivering theatrical hits that made real money and prestige TV shows that won awards. And yet, the art form still feels stuck."

Fallout Season 2 arrives amid high expectations and industry upheaval, with collaboration between Hollywood and the roughly $188 billion games industry increasingly urgent. Video game adaptations have a long history of technical and creative struggles since 1993's Super Mario Bros., punctuated by isolated successes like Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and a string of costly misfires. Those failures widened cultural gaps and fostered the perception that traditional entertainment is out of touch with younger audiences. In 2025 the film and TV business produced hits and award-winning prestige shows, yet the medium still feels stalled as several major game adaptations shift release dates into 2026.

Read at IndieWire