For years now, video games have been evolving into being more than just improved graphics and enticing gameplay. Storylines and general narratives have been making single-player campaigns a viable and alternative option to the ever-popular multiplayer game modes. Naturally, some of these plots have organically found their way into other formats. Whether it is in the form of an animation or live-action, movie or television series, video game adaptations are becoming increasingly popular.
In most cases, it provides viewers with a trip down memory lane, while adding more depth and new layers to an already existing franchise. There are obviously some that have proven to be popular than others, but either way, Netflix has picked up a number of these adaptations, with an extensive library being found under "based on a video game" on the popular streaming service. They aren't all necessarily considered to be Netflix Originals, but regardless, Netflix has purchased rights to or licensed several of these adaptations, making them well worth checking out.
14 Dota: Dragon's Blood Brings The Lore Of The Dota Franchise To Life In A Spectacular Way
Dota: Dragon's Blood is a series that debuted on Netflix in March 2021. It is based on Dota 2, a popular MOBA video game, created by Valve. It has quite the fan base, making the decision to adapt it into an animated series a brave one.
Dota: Dragon's Blood has an impressive cast of voice actors including the likes of Yuri Lowenthal, Troy Baker, and Lara Pulver, with the latter lending her voice to the Netflix animated movie, The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf. Dota: Dragon's Blood brings the magic of the game with all of its lore and glory, to life in an exciting and intense Netflix series.
13 Monster Hunter: Legends Of The Guild Has Its Critics But Is A Fun Enough Adaptation
In August 2021, the successful video game franchise of Monster Hunter gained a movie addition in Monster Hunter: Legends Of The Guild. Capcom worked with Pure Imagination Studios to make the movie, which is very like the successful games and watches events unfolding around human interactions with peculiar creatures including the Elder Dragon.
12 From Strategic MMORPG To Fun Adventure Cartoon, Wakfu Has Come A Long Way
Wakfu is an animated series adaptation of the MMORPG also titled Wakfu, developed by Ankama Games and published by the likes of Square Enix and Ubisoft.
Originally released as a French animated series, Wakfu grew in popularity and Netflix acquired the rights for it before its third season, making it a Netflix Original. Despite its popularity, Ankama have been relying on Kickstarter campaigns to meet targets and keep the series going, including funding its dub versions. That popularity has worked wonders, however, with it allowing for the fourth and final series to go ahead at some point in the future.
11 The Popular RPG Series Ni no Kuni Was Given A Movie Adaptation Titled NiNoKuni
Published by Bandai Namco, the Ni no Kuni video games are usually role-playing focused, available on a wide range of consoles, but there is also one iteration as a social card game.
An animated movie adaptation titled NiNoKuni was released in Japan in 2019, and subsequently localized in English and released on Netflix in 2020. The movie is an interesting adaptation, exploring an intriguing concept of hopping between worlds and blurred realities in order to solve a mystery.
10 Leon And Claire Are Back In Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness is an anime series adapted from the legendary Resident Evil games, made famous by Capcom. The horror series features Resident Evil 2 protagonists Leon and Claire but is supposedly set between the events of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.
The series burst onto Netflix in July 2021 and has received mixed reviews, but an alternative representation of the franchise away from the video games and the Milla Jovovich movies was well received by some.
9 From Books To Games To Netflix Series And Animated Movie, The Witcher Is Conquering All
Although the Netflix series of The Witcher prides itself on taking parts of the book series and the games, while also being its own entity, it can certainly still be considered a successful Netflix video game adaptation. Henry Cavill's love for video games and the Witcher series, in general, is clear for everyone to see with his portrayal of Geralt, and the Witcher world has translated perfectly over to another different medium.
Netflix has also released an animated movie for the franchise, titled The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf, which is a wonderful mixture of The Witcher and the Castlevania Netflix series.
8 The Dynasty Warriors Movie Doesn't Compare To The Red Cliff Adaptations But Still Brings Its Characters To Life
The Dynasty Warriors franchise has been prominent in the video game world since 1997, developed by Omega Force and with Koei and Koei Tecmo publishing various iterations of the games over the years. The action games themselves are in fact a spin-off of a turn-based strategy series named Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, which in turn is based on a Chinese novel of the same name.
The hack and slash Dynasty Warriors games are packed full of lore and general chaos, and a movie name-sake was made in early 2021, making its way from Hong Kong to China, and then to Netflix.
7 The Yinyang Master And The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity Are Both Adaptations Of The Game Onmyoji
Netflix has acquired rights for and streamed both The Yinyang Master and The Yin-Yang Master: Dream Of Eternity. Both movies have completely different casts, directors, and everything involved, yet they both are adaptations of the game and novels of Onmyoji.
The game is a turn-based strategy experience, with the aim to construct a dream team and fight off demons. Both movie iterations on Netflix feature the protagonist Qing Ming but otherwise vary in characters and story.
6 Carmen Sandiego Has Come A Long Way From Being A Villain In An Educational Game To Protagonist In A Series
Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? is a game series that was introduced in 1985, seen as an educational video game, encouraging and requiring players to find and solve clues, on route to tracking down the villainous Carmen Sandiego. Many more iterations and versions of the game would follow, with the player trying to track down Carmen every time.
A Netflix series was released in 2019 based on the premise, but flipped on its head, with Carmen Sandiego being the protagonist heroine of the series. The success of the series even led to a special interactive movie titled To Steal Or Not To Steal, in 2020.
5 Dragon Quest: Your Story Effectively Adapts The Story Of Dragon Quest 5
Dragon Quest: Your Story is a movie based on the Dragon Quest video games, but specifically adapting the plot of Dragon Quest 5. It was released in Japan in 2019 and premiered internationally on Netflix in early 2020.
It had Yuri Lowenthal voicing The Hero in the English dub version, and it would not be the last time that he would voice a prominent character in a Netflix adaptation of a video game, with Dota: Dragon's Blood arriving in 2021.
4 Skylanders Academy Was A Fun Addition To The Franchise
In a similar vein to Lego Dimensions, Skylanders games would encourage players to scan toys and figurines, importing them into the game and therefore allowing them to be used. There were several Skylanders games within the franchise, with many popular characters including Spyro the Dragon.
Activision Blizzard Studios went on to make a series called Skylanders Academy, which was released on Netflix in 2016. It was intended as a spin-off to the games, with only a handful of voice actors reprising their previous roles, and the remaining characters being recast.
3 Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution Was Released As A Netflix Original On Pokémon Day
The remaster of the first Pokémon movie starring Mewtwo, renamed as Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution, was released on Netflix as a Netflix Original Movie on Pokémon Day, February 27, 2020, as announced by The Pokémon Company.
In 2020, The Pokémon Company also announced that Netflix secured the US rights for the release of future seasons, starting with Pokémon Journeys, which is great for Netflix-using Pokémon fans. Although the Pokémon anime has been going since just after the games, the games were still the original core and source material.
2 Dragon's Dogma Captured The Dark Essence Of The Game In Anime Form
Released in 2020, Capcom's Dragon Dogma is often compared to Netflix's Castlevania due to it being considered among the most successful video game adaptations, but it often falls short of meeting the high standards set by the Dracula-based series.
The series was based on the successful 2012 video game, Dragon's Dogma, which was an action role-playing game with a dark and gritty story, certainly befitting of eventually having a dark and gritty anime adaptation made of it.
1 Castlevania Is The Best Of The Best In Terms Of Netflix Video Game Adaptations
Netflix's Castlevania is among its most notable and successful video game adaptations. Four intense seasons of captivating storytelling, all while bringing the world and characters alive, make it a must-see for anyone who has previously enjoyed the Castlevania games.
With Dracula's grief-induced vengeance on humanity and Trevor Belmont fighting against it, Castlevania is certainly a benchmark for future Netflix video game adaptations. Although Trevor and his company's stories were closed beautifully, there is certainly ample room and opportunity for possible spin-offs involving old and new characters in the future.