Mass Effect TV producer says he was never told to rewrite show for non-gamers

The new Mass Effect TV show at Amazon Prime might not fall into the same trap as Paramount's Halo show after all--writer and executive producer Daniel Casey clarifies that he was never asked to adapt the fan-favorite series to appeal to broader audiences.

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Weeks ago, Hollywood newsletter The Ankler published a report about the upcoming Mass Effect TV series. The report said that Amazon MGM Studios head of global TV Peter Friedlander was closely scrutinizing all script projects, and that the Mass Effect show might not actually get greenlit without being re-written to appeal to non-gamers.

Now we have clarifications from Daniel Casey, who is producing and writing the series for Amazon--Casey says that the report is bogus and he was never asked to do rewrites tailored for people who didn't play the Mass Effect games.

"So, I can't talk about the specifics of what I'm writing (I've signed NDAs, etc) - but for whatever it's worth, that article by the Ankler caught me off guard just as much as you. I don't know where that "non-gaming audiences" quote came from or who said it, but at no point has that been said to me," Casey said on BlueSky.

While transmedia is meant to attract more people and convert them into fans and consumers of products, the best and most successful video game adaptations all have a tight synergy with their source material. Games already represent a Gestalt culmination of all media types, which creates a stronger attachment to the content itself, so it's always important for IP rightsholders to target their core constituents with any kind of big-budget adaptations.

This is especially true for serialized content, as this kind of seasonal-driven cycle can help drive up sales of products--even old catalog games--every year or so. The Fallout TV show is a prime example of how this cycle has been used effectively, ditto for the Devil May Cry series on Netflix, which has had a direct uplift on full game sales at Capcom.

BioWare is also developing a new mainline Mass Effect game, and it's possible that the show could seasonally overlap to help stimulate game sales of older titles, like the Mass Effect Legendary Edition and Mass Effect Andromeda, while the new project continues development.