Summary
A common marketing strategy formovie studios in the 2000swas to release a tie-in game for home consoles to coincide with a huge film release. Not many of these games ever turned out to be any good due to a restricted timescale that existed to ensure that it was released at the same time as the movie and the fact that many of these movies had to keep key details under wraps during production. Despite this, the Xbox 360 and PS3 era of gaming still produced some great movie tie-in games.
Unfortunately, the return on this marketing strategy seemed to cost more than it was worth, and the guaranteedmovie tie-in game traditionhas died off in recent years. As such, many huge blockbusters from the last few years have been left without a much-needed tie-in video game, which is a shame considering the potential.
8Toy Story 4
WhenToy Story 4was released in 2019, many fans of the franchise were left scratching their headsabout whether anotherToy Storymovie was necessary. However, that opinion soon changed when the film was met with great reviews and a huge box office return. Unfortunately, a tie-in game for consoles did not hit shelves as it should have.
All three of the previousToy Storyfilms received the video game treatment, the latter two in the series being lauded as some of the greatest movie tie-in platform games of all time. Sadly,Toy Story 4missed this treatment, although the sprawling fairground seen in the movie looked like it was ripe for a platform game akin to its predecessors. Gabby Gabby and her unsettling team of ventriloquist dolls could even have made for a compelling boss fight toward the climax of the game.
7Frozen
It was almostimpossible to escapeFrozenat the end of 2013 and much of 2014. The film reached over $1 billion at the box office and the soundtrack was everywhere. While a few mobile games were released to capitalize on this craze, Disney did not offer a proper tie-in game for consoles. This seems like a pretty big misstep considering the sheer amount ofFrozenmerchandise available at the time.
Imagine a game where players must brave the frozen open-world snowscapes as Anna or the ice powers that Elsa could utilize during this exploration. Sadly, no game was released, and sinceFrozen 2is already out, it doesn’t look like Disney or any other game developers will return to the potential left by the first movie.
6The Avengers
It seems strange that there is no trueAvengersgame out to accompany one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, save for a Lego adaptation. Even stranger is the fact that all the MCU entries in the lead-up to the firstAvengersmovie all received their own tie-in game for consoles.
The truth behind this mystery is that a first-person brawler game featuring theAvengerswas set to be released by THQ in 2012. The game had nothing to do with the blockbuster film and was instead based on theSecret Invasionstoryline from the comic books. Sadly, a lack of funding caused THQ to cancel the project. Still, this does not explain why players are yet to receive a game where they can play asCaptain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, or Hawkeyein anotherAvengersmovie tie-in.
5John Wick
The firstJohn Wickmovie from 2015 was only meant to be a small release. As such, it makes sense that no tie-in game was planned. However, theJohn Wickfranchise has since blossomed into a juggernaut, withmultiple sequels and spin-offsexploring this dangerous world of assassins. Why then has there been no word of a tie-in game or even a series?
TheJohn Wickfranchise would lend itself nicely to a first-person shooter or aHitman-esque stealth game. Developers could even make a bloody, action-packed brawler with gory kill animations. Sadly, noJohn Wickgame is currently available on consoles.
4The Dark Knight
Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knightis not just hailed as the bestBatmanfilm to date but is often described asone of the best movies of all time. So, why no tie-in game?Batman Beginsreceived a tie-in game, and despite its flaws, was quite well-received.
The Dark Knightwas, in fact, set to receive a tie-in game in 2008 from Pandemic Studios. Sadly, a troubled production caused too many delays, so the game would not meet its intended release date. As a result, the $100 million project was scrapped. Fortunately,Arkham Asylumwas released a year later to help cureBatmanfans' wounds, but it would have been nice to see a direct movie tie-in nonetheless.
3Dune
Duneis an odd property. The book is lauded as one of the greatest sci-fi stories of all time. Sadly, translating it to the big screen proved to be quite a difficult task. That was until Denis Villeneuve released his version of the epic in 2021. Now,Duneis a huge property.
As such, fans have come to expect a big-budget tie-in game based on this franchise. The old games that arebased on the booksare fun, sure, but withDunenow in the public consciousness again, it is time to give this franchise another chance on home consoles. Just imagine what it would be like to explore an open-world version of Arrakis.
2The Force Awakens
Once the prequels wrapped up in 2005, manyStar Warsfans never expected to see another film in the franchise. Fortunately, Disney was able to buy the rights toStar Warsin 2012 and set the sequel trilogy in motion withEpisode 7: The Force Awakens.
While many viewthe sequel trilogyto be a disappointment, even more disappointing was the fact that no tie-in games were released to accompany each release. All the prequel movies have a video game, so it seems strange that Disney would miss out on the opportunity to rake in more money with a Triple-A tie-in game released alongsideThe Force Awakens. For now, fans ofStar Warswill only ever be able to play through this part of the saga in Lego form.
1Man of Steel
While Zack Snyder’sBatman vs. Supermanfilm is lacking in action, the movie that came before had the opposite problem.Man of Steelwas released in 2013 to mixed reactions. Many thought the movie showed adisregard toward human casualtiesin the action-packed finale, but it is this action that makesMan of Steelworthy of a video game tie-in.
Superman is one of the most recognizable superheroes on the planet, so a game sporting the legendarySupermansymbol should have been an easy sell. In an era when Warner Bros and DC were eager to catch up to Marvel in the movie landscape, not releasing a video game to accompany the start of their new movie universe seems like a mistake in hindsight.Superman Returnsgot a tie-in game, and that movie had very little going on.
