Parallel worlds

The licensed videogame racket used to be a deeply weird scene, the preserve of huge companies with marketing cash to burn and no real interest in the smoke it produced. John Wick Hex (p36) creator Mike Bithell semi-fondly recalls his first gig working on Nickelodeon’s iCarly game for Wii – ”not glamorous, but it paid the bills. Ish.” But there’s a bit of a renaissance happening in the game industry lately, with the keepers of some of the world’s most valuable IP actively seeking out creative talent to produce something of real quality.

Lionsgate still sees its multimillion dollar franchise as an indie experiment done good, and so Bithell Games was a natural choice for the John Wick game. The filmmaker must be ecstatic – the studio has implemented all the stylish yet cerebral action you’d see in the films into one of the last videogame genres you’d expect. Lionsgate has even involved Hex’s makers in the production of the latest film to ensure authenticity.

And the process of creating Marvel’s Avengers (p40), it seems, has been much the same. Even the famously difficult Disney has relaxed its grasp on the planet’s biggest franchise, allowing a team of talented game-industry vets its own take on some iconic superheroes, with some of Marvel’s key people popping by to get involved in shoots. These changes to the licensing relationship feel like a turning-point: other industries are starting to see games not as gimmicky promotional tools, but worthy of investment and respect.

It can be hard to trust your baby with someone else (especially if that baby is a goose that lays golden, company-sustaining eggs). But the passing of the torch from original devs to the next generation of stars with The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (p32) is another sign that, whether it be film, game or otherwise, a different perspective can teach you new things about a world you only ever thought existed inside your own head.