It’s becoming apparent to me that video games are the new theme parks. No, not brick and mortar recreations of games that already exist.
The video games themselves.
And while Disney+ catches up with Netflix in the near term, there’s a long game afoot with a meta-verse competitive edge: gamers who watch tv shows in between playing video games.
Mods Are Just the Beginning…
There’s a ton of focus from modders to quickly get the Cyberpunk Edgerunner experience available in the Cyberpunk 2077 video game right now. They beat CD Projekt Red to it. Talk about a mobilized fan base.
If you want to see the amazing work modders are doing (and how to install this mod yourself), check out this short Awesome Game Mods tutorial.
What’s amazing is that modders are able to incorporate show content faster than the video game developers themselves… until the developers catch up lol
Ensuring the show content is added to the video game(planned ahead of the show releasing, perhaps?) so fans that are re-stoked to play the game because of the amazing storylines from the show they just watched is a built in revenue stream I cannot un-see studio executives salivating to explore.
No brick. No mortar. Already billion dollar franchise available for micro transaction profit shares from a show that’s profitable in and of itself. Or a loss leader with the opportunity to drive new game purchases from previously untapped audiences. Who will also want to bundle the show-based DLC into their purchase.
A pre-built meta-verse theme park with all the rides and sites and sounds just waiting for new feet to walk through the login screen.
Win-Win.
Netflix is Ahead of This Curve Already
I’ve been paying attention to Netflix’s video game content development over the past few years, and the slew of video game them park possibilities emerging is mind boggling.
Riot games already has a gajillion fans loving League of Legends. Watching the Arcane series got me to download LoL for the first time (hey – I’m an 40+ year old gamer willing to try new things. better late than never).
Add an Emmy snub to their excellent story universe and I’m having zoom call sidebars with colleagues exclaiming how cool the game looks and that they’re trying it for themselves for the first time, too.
And if you’re not aware of the upcoming League of Legends MMO… well, if this doesn’t scream theme park for years potential, I don’t know what does.
No parking lot fee at Disneyland required, go figure. But they will opt to buy $9.99 worth of online credits to get that Vi skin they want. Ka-ching!
I can’t help but feel The Witcher has somewhat missed the boat on being the theme park it could be…
But I did buy it on Steam when it finally went on sale for under 10 bucks because why not? This is the case where the rustic theme park of old is a serviceable cash cow for show fans who want to walk through it’s aging doors one more time… because the servers still work and why not?
A Good Case for More Good Video Game Shows
Wouldn’t it follow that Studio (Netflix) aligns with Game Developer (CD Project Red) to ensure that when a new movie or series launches, and the attention drives new sales and return players, there is a coordinated schedule of contextual DLC available, for free or not, incorporating the show content auto-magically awarding players new and old with the equivalent of a 12 hour day at the park to re-engage or even experience the game for the first time?
And all without the carbon emissions required for people to wait to pay for their parking before they wait to get on the tram to wait to hand their ticket to finally get into the park to wait for the bathroom then wait for the ride and oh the hopper pass is a thing and come on I also want icecream and then there’s funny hats I can…
No, I just want to login and rock and roll. And here’s 9 bucks for the cool outfit because I work for a living and deserve it lol.
I mean, it’s effectively already happening. Shoot robots, take down monsters, battle heroes, compete and make new experiences. Immediately. It’s a theme park.
And talk about the reduction the carbon emissions from cars waiting to park at Disneyland… can we find a theme park business model that doesn’t poke another direct hole in the ozone, please?
And as a gamer, I’m a huge fan of this myself. I’m stoked to see how this plays out moving forward, seems like studios could stop focusing on the need to build Harry Potter Lands as some huge undertaking when fans have instant access (and lower carbon footprint) to access a video game from the same couch they watched the show from.
Brick & Mortar Still Be Cool…
Who is going to argue that a trip to Super Nintendo World would not be a fun way to spend your vacation dollars?
If you’ve never clicked through to the Super Nintendo Website, it’s totally worth 3min of your time.