These are the most popular video game television adaptations

A new study has revealed that Arcane: League of Legends is the most popular video game to television adaptation.

Online gaming magazine Gaminggadgets.de, analysed online audience review scores for video game TV show adaptations from the past six years, to find which has been the most popular among fans.

Audience review scores were taken from Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, Metacritic, and IGN, to calculate an average score out of 10 for each adaptation. Each TV show was then ranked from highest to lowest score, to determine which is the most popular.

Striking a balance

Nico Arnold, Editor at Gaminggadgets.de said video game adaptations need to strike a balance between pleasing an existing gaming audience, while attracting new viewers.

“Otherwise, they can end up alienating both demographics if they fail to follow the source material and are poorly written and directed.”

“Notably, four out of the top five entries are animated series, which could suggest that animation is the most fitting medium for video game adaptations, due to its similarity in style to the original game footage,” Arnold said.

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Arcane: League of Legends (2021)

The game ranked as the most popular video game television adaptation with an average audience score of 9.4 out of 10. Released by Netflix, Arcane is an animated steampunk action-adventure television series based on League of Legends, a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)

This game came in second place with an average audience score of 8.85 out of 10. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is a cyberpunk web anime series based on the action RPG game Cyberpunk 2077 and was released by Netflix.

Castlevania (2017)

Coming at number three, with an average audience score of 8.48 out of 10, Castlevania is an adult animated action series created for Netflix and is based on the Japanese video game series of the same name, with the first two seasons adapting Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (1989).

The Last of Us (2023)

This game came close behind in fourth, with an average audience score of 8.28 out of 10. The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic drama series created for HBO and is based on the game franchise of the same name.

Sonic Prime (2022)

Ranked fifth, with an average audience score of 8.13 out of 10, Sonic Prime is an animated series created by Netflix Animation and is the sixth animated television series based on the Sonic the Hedgehog game franchise from SEGA.

Other shows in the Top 10 include Twisted Metal (2023), Dota: Dragon’s Blood (2021), Carmen Sandiego (2019), The Cuphead Show (2022), and The Witcher (2019).

Witcher: Blood Origin (2022) ranked the lowest out of all entries with an average audience score of 3.6 out of 10. Witcher: Blood Origin is a fantasy mini-series created by Netflix that serves as a prequel to The Witcher (2019), which ranked 10th overall. Both series are adaptations of the Witcher game franchise. 

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