Video game fans unite as Amazon Prime Video ramps things up with an all-new animated anthology series, featuring stories set within different video game worlds. The series is entitled Secret Level, and is being developed by Deadpool director Tim Miller and Blur Studio. According to Deadline, the new anthology series is similar to that of Miller’s Love, Death, and Robots, which was initially created by Miller in 2019 for Netflix.
Love, Death, and Robots features different short, animated stories from different studios and in different art styles. Given the name of the show, some episodes, of course, involve robots, while others play off themes of horror or science fiction. Some possible video games that may appear in Secret Level include Amazon’s MMORPG New World and Spelunky from Amazon Games, as well as other PlayStation titles that have yet to be announced. So, we can expect a variation of different video game stories told in a variety of styles, resulting in something that should certainly appeal to video game fans.
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Aside from the successful release of Miller’s Love, Death, and Robots, Miller’s other credits include Deadpool and Terminator: Dark Fate. Although not much detail was revealed surrounding the PlayStation games that would be included in the series, there is the potential to leap into animation styles from Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted, or Astro Bot. However, nothing has been confirmed at this time.
Video Game-Based TV Shows Are on the Rise
The release of Secret Level comes amid many other successful video game adaptations hitting streaming services and landing on the small screen lately, including the critically acclaimed show Fallout on Prime Video, the HBO series The Last of Us, Peacock’s Twisted Metal, and the animated series Arcane on Netflix. Following the success of Fallout, Amazon is now working on a second season, with an all-new show based on the Yakuza/Like a Dragon game franchise on the horizon as well.
Dave Wilson will serve as the executive producer and supervising director of Secret Level, which will be produced by Amazon MGM and Blur Studio. Blur Studio was co-founded in 1995 by Miller as a collaborative effort for animators and artists so that they can have greater control of their creative destinies. Besides specializing in video game cinematics, Blur has also succeeded in creating commercials and feature films.
Although this all-new adult-focused game series is potentially a huge gamble for Amazon Prime, there are high hopes for its success. Thanks to the likes of Fallout, Arcane, and The Last of Us, the latter of which was hailed as one of the top shows of 2023 and is often hailed as one of the best video game adaptations of all time, Prime Video is clearly looking to lean into video game adaptations. Meanwhile, PlayStation fans will no doubt be eager to see what Secret Level has to add to the success of the revitalized video game-based franchises.