Amazon Prime Video's next stab at a streaming video game show could be the perfect Fallout replacement for fans. The video game adaptation has become a hot commodity among Hollywood's biggest names. Heavy-hitters of the gaming world like The Last of Us, Super Mario Bros, and Fallout have all wowed audiences after making their way to the big and small screen, and Amazon might have the next king of the genre already on deck.
After the success of its Fallout series (based on the beloved series of Bethesda RPGs), Amazon Prime Video is ready to tackle another sci-fi titan of the video game medium with its new Mass Effect series.
The new streaming series was officially confirmed to be moving forward on the platform after months of rumors of its development, with Star Trek Beyond writer Doug Jung serving as showrunner (via Deadline).
This will add to the streamer's ever-growing catalog of video game TV shows, joining Fallout (whose second season is due out later this year) and the in-development God of War series based on PlayStation's fan-favorite series of action games.
Mass Effect follows humanity and several other alien races in a far-flung future as they race to capture ancient Precursor technology while contending with a mutual threat known as the universe-destroying Reapers. Developed by acclaimed RPG studio Bioware and published by Electronic Arts, Mass Effect has seen four mainline games released to date, with a fifth confirmed to be in development.
Why Mass Effect Could Be the Perfect Fallout Follow-up?
As Amazon embarks on its Mass Effect journey, fans of the Fallout series should keep their eyes out on the next sci-fi video game adaptation from the streamer.
As of now, Fallout is still running strong, with a second season coming later this year, picking up the story from the end of Season 1, heading to the beloved location from the games, the nuclear-tinged New Vegas. However, the hit streaming series will not last forever, and that is where Mass Effect comes in.
If Mass Effect is only just going into development now with a showrunner on board, then it is likely still three, four, or maybe even five years away (especially if it is going to capture the massive intergalactic scale of the Mass Effect games).
By then, a third and maybe fourth season of Fallout will be out, with the show likely ending somewhere around there, although that is merely an assumption at this point. This could serve as a perfect moment to pass the baton to Mass Effect, with the streaming offering fans a new sci-fi video game adaptation to obsess over.
Like Fallout, Mass Effect offers a sprawling world filled to the brim with interesting characters, creatures, and stories to be told. It is this incredible mix of Game of Thrones and Star Wars with profoundly deep lore that has been begging for adaptation since the first game launched in 2007.
Mass Effect will likely have a slightly different tone than Fallout, with the latter embracing the quirky humor of the video games it is based on. However, fans are in for a treat if Amazon Prime Video can adapt the beloved Bioware franchise as true-to-the-source material as it did with Fallout.
The Mass Effect franchise leans a little more on the serious side, providing audiences with an operatic race against the time as multiple warring factions and alien species are forced to put their difference aside with the looming threat of extinction event bringing Reapers on the horizon.
It's an epic suicide mission steeped in new mythology that feels ripe for adaptation, which is where this sort of genre has succeeded in the past with the likes of Fallout and The Last of Us.
Hopefully, the Mass Effect TV show can land the plane (or spaceship) and be the perfect follow-up for Prime Video's other big-budget sci-fi video game show.
