Development studio Focus Home Interactive released their latest game, Vampyr, to mostly positive reviews back in June. The game sold well, and although reviewers were critical of its combat mechanics, the story and voice acting received near-universal praise. Now, it seems that it has attracted even more attention than anticipated; Deadline reports that Fox 21 Television Studios has optioned the rights to develop a TV series based on the game.
The Rights to a Vampyr TV Series
Vampyr is set in the year 1918; in the dense urban sprawl of London, during a major plague. The protagonist is a doctor who becomes a vampire; forcing him to choose between his new vampiric urges and his moral duty as a doctor to the people of London. The game’s story was highly praised by most reviewers. Indeed, while there was criticism of the game’s difficulty and combat mechanics, the game still sold very well. In fact, it will be getting two new alternate story modes later this year. One will increase the difficulty. The other mode will decrease the amount of combat which features in the game.
Fox 21 Television Studios has optioned the rights to develop a TV series based on Vampyr, with DJ2 Entertainment and McG’s Wonderland Sound & Vision. Wonderland members Mary Viola and Corey Marsh have been attached to the project to direct and also executive produce. They will be joined in those roles by Dmitri Johnson and Stephan Bugaj from DJ2. Obviously, given that this deal has only just been made; nothing is known about the project beyond those details. The development time of projects such as this can be very long. As such, it will likely be a year or more before any news emerges about it. By comparison, Netflix is currently developing a series based on The Witcher. That project was announced last year. Nevertheless, it still has yet to announce any casting decisions.