Now that media companies have seen how successful video game-based TV shows can be, the industry is scrambling to bring titles to the small screen. Tekken, for which Netflix has just released a teaser trailer, and the excellent A Plague Tale: Innocence are two more names getting the television treatment.
Later this year, Tekken: Bloodline will join other popular animated shows on Netflix, such as Castlevania and DotA 2. The plot revolves around protagonist Jin Kazama, who did not join the Tekken franchise until Tekken 3 in 1996.
Fans of the show will recognize many of the characters in the trailer. Jun, Jin’s mother, is attacked by a “demon” who appears to be Ogre’s character. Jin’s grandfather, Heihachi Mishima, appears, as do Paul Phoenix, Leroy Smith, and King.
Tekken, like Street Fighter II before it, received an anime adaptation in 1998. There was also a live-action film in 2010, which has a critics’ score of zero on Rotten Tomatoes, and an animated Tekken: Blood Vengeance in 2011.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is another game that will be shown on television. The (mostly) excellent 2019 adventure/horror/stealth title set in Black Death-infected 14th Century France is very cinematic—it was one of our Most Watchable Games for Non-Gamers—and should translate quite well to another medium.
According to Allocine, French director Mathieu Turi will be working on the project. The fact that it’s being shot in France should add to the authenticity.
There’s no word on when A Plague Tale: Innocence will be adapted for television, but we can expect the game’s successor, A Plague Tale: Requiem, to arrive first; it’s set to release later in 2022.
